Drugs are an important weapon for doctors to treat diseases, and they are also a frequent topic of concern for patients. But as the saying goes, “medicine is three parts poisonous”, drugs are a “double-edged sword”, the good use can play a positive role in fighting disease, but the bad use will damage health, the loss is not worth it. The actual fact is that you can find a lot of people who have been in the marketplace for a long time, and they’re not going to be able to get a lot of money. Some people regard “anti-inflammatory drugs” as a miracle cure for all diseases and use so-called “anti-inflammatory drugs” for a long time. According to one incomplete statistics, only 48% of the total number of patients surveyed had knowledge of anti-infective drugs and antibiotics. Another survey showed that patients who used anti-infective drugs without indication and prophylactically accounted for 30-45%. In some cases, the body is found to be red, swollen, painful, and hot, and “anti-inflammatory drugs” are used regardless of the condition, and little is known about whether the so-called “anti-inflammatory drugs” are anti-infectives or anti-inflammatory drugs. In fact, we often say that the definition of “anti-inflammatory drugs” is extremely vague, and it is easy to confuse the concept of antibacterial drugs and anti-inflammatory drugs. First of all, since we are talking about “anti-inflammatory drugs”, let’s have a brief understanding of what exactly is the “inflammation” that needs to be “eliminated”? Inflammation is a stress response of the body to infection, foreign substances or other causes of injury, the inflammatory response is conducive to the reduction and repair of damage. Inflammation itself is not a disease, but has two sides, namely, the beneficial “protection” and the harmful “damage” to the organism. “Protection” emphasizes the mobilization of intrinsic factors during the inflammatory response to protect the organism from pathogenic factors. “Damage” emphasizes the production of various harmful substances, such as proteolytic enzymes and oxygen metabolites, which directly damage tissues during the inflammatory process. Briefly, inflammation can be divided into infectious inflammation and non-infectious inflammation. Infectious inflammation: Inflammation caused by pathogenic microorganisms (pathogens) infecting the organism. For example: cellulitis; puerperal fever; mycoplasma pneumonia; bacterial gastroenteritis; bacterial conjunctivitis, etc. Non-infectious inflammation: inflammation due to non-infectious factors such as antigenic stimulation, non-invasive trauma, and autoimmune causes. For example, allergic rhinitis; degenerative osteoarthritis; rheumatoid arthritis, etc. Due to the different etiologies that trigger the inflammatory response of diseases, the pathogenic processes are different, resulting in different symptoms. Inflammatory reactions are accompanied by a variety of diseases. For example: skin and soft tissue infections; upper (lower) respiratory tract infections; allergic rhinitis; bronchial asthma; peptic ulcers; lung infections; inflammatory bowel disease; type 2 diabetes; atherosclerosis; hyperlipidemia; chronic heart failure; chronic renal failure; Parkinson’s disease; osteoarthritis; gynecological infectious diseases; urinary tract infections; certain tumors; cerebral thrombosis and other diseases. When the body has an inflammatory response, a mild protective inflammatory response helps the body to recover and heal itself, but when the inflammatory response is too strong and causes damage to the body, we should use some drugs to control the inflammatory response to protect the body from its damage. After we know about inflammation, what are anti-infective drugs? Infectious diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, mycoplasma, chlamydia and other pathogenic microorganisms are found in various clinical departments, among which bacterial infections are the most common, so antibacterial drugs have become one of the most widely used clinical drugs. All drugs that inhibit and kill bacteria and other microorganisms are collectively called anti-infective drugs. Anti-infective drugs are classified as anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-viral, anti-tuberculosis and anti-parasitic drugs. Antibacterial drugs include antibiotics and chemically synthesized antibacterial drugs. What we call antibiotics in everyday life is a subclass of antibacterial drugs, which are substances produced by certain microorganisms in their metabolism and their derivatives. Antibiotics do not directly target inflammation, but rather the microorganisms that cause it, and they have an inhibitory and killing effect on bacteria and other microorganisms as well as tumor cells. Antibiotics are classified in a very large number of categories due to their different chemical structures, the common ones being: penicillins, cephalosporins, macrolides, aminoglycosides, glycopeptides, polymyxins, carbapenems, tetracyclines, and so on. Each class of antibiotics has its own specific antibacterial mechanism, and each has its own unique pharmacological action and pharmacodynamic characteristics. The use of antibiotics, as prescribed by physicians, has strict indications and is not suitable for storage as a family medication because of the risk of unsafe selection by patients. When you feel unwell and suspect that you are suffering from an infection, it is important that you go to the hospital in a timely manner and do not use anti-infectives at your own discretion to avoid serious consequences! After understanding anti-infective drugs, let’s next look at what kind of drugs anti-inflammatory drugs are again. The drugs that have the mechanism to influence the inflammatory response of the body and have an anti-inflammatory effect, we call them anti-inflammatory drugs. Anti-inflammatory drugs are simply divided into two categories, one is non-steroidal antipyretic and analgesic anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as: fentanyl, futalin, aspirin, paracetamol, naproxen sodium, etc.. Antipyretic anti-inflammatory drugs are a class of drugs that have the ability to reduce fever and alleviate chronic dull pain in the periphery. They can inhibit the synthesis and release of prostaglandins (PGs) in the neurons of the anterior hypothalamus, and have anti-inflammatory and anti-rheumatic effects in addition to antipyretic and analgesic effects. The anti-inflammatory mechanism of NSAIDs is mainly through the inhibition of PGs cyclooxygenase (COX), which prevents the conversion of arachidonic acid into arachidonic acid. The anti-inflammatory mechanism of action of NSAIDs is mainly through the inhibition of PGs cyclooxygenase (COX), which prevents the conversion of arachidonic acid into prostaglandins (PGs) and exerts analgesic, anti-inflammatory and antipyretic effects. These drugs are effective for moderate dull pain such as headache, toothache, neuralgia, arthralgia, muscle pain and menstrual pain, but not for severe traumatic pain and visceral smooth muscle colic. The other category is steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, that is, we often say glucocorticoid anti-inflammatory drugs such as: dexamethasone, prednisone acetate, beclomethasone, cortisone, etc.. Glucocorticoids have a variety of effects on the body, such as: effects on metabolism; immunosuppressive effects; antitoxic effects; antipyretic effects; anti-inflammatory effects; enhancement of stress function; and anti-shock effects. Anti-inflammatory effects are only one of these effects. When glucocorticoids are applied for anti-inflammatory purposes, they can produce unwanted side effects due to the other effects they have, and also have the potential to produce more serious adverse effects after long-term, high-dose use, such as: 1. Cushing’s syndrome; 2. inducing aggravation of infection; 3. inducing or aggravating peptic ulcers; 4. causing atherosclerosis and hypertension due to water and sodium retention and elevated blood lipids; 5. promoting 5, due to the promotion of protein decomposition and inhibition of its synthesis, increased excretion of calcium and phosphorus, resulting in osteoporosis, muscle atrophy, wound healing difficulties, etc.; 6, inhibit the secretion of growth hormone and negative nitrogen balance, resulting in growth retardation. Therefore, the use of hormonal anti-inflammatory drugs should be especially cautious, and the indications for their use should be extremely strict, and the individual dosing program should be implemented according to the specific conditions of the patients, and the dose and course of treatment should be controlled in order to minimize the effects of adverse reactions. The above description may give you a preliminary understanding of anti-inflammatory drugs and anti-infective drugs, and in the midst of the severe winter, middle-aged and elderly people may be more susceptible to cold and flu due to the relative weakness of their bodies, leading to infectious diseases of the respiratory system, so I hope you can use the above knowledge to make the right choice when you are not feeling well, and do not abuse “anti-inflammatory drugs I hope you can use the above knowledge to make the right choice when you are not feeling well, and not to abuse “anti-inflammatory drugs. Let’s talk about the abuse of antibiotics next time.