Safety Medication and drug use
Medication &
drug use BY DR CECILIA ROBERTS
Dr Cecilia Roberts delves into the ever notorious topic regarding the use of medication or drugs during diving. e receive numerous queries via the DAN-SA hotline and portal asking whether it is safe to continue diving after being prescribed certain medication or if someone can participate in a diving course whilst taking some or other tablet with a peculiar name. This can be quite a complex issue with no simple answers. One of the biggest obstacles in addressing the subject of medication or drugs in diving is that is solid data is not readily available. Most of the information that is available is taken from existing aviation or military standards, diving texts and some reputable internet resources. A recent paper published by Dr Marguerite St Leger Dowse looks at the prevalence and type of illicit and prescribed drugs used by recreational divers in the United Kingdom. A total of 57% of respondents admitted to over-the-counter medication use within six hours prior to diving. These included mostly analgesics followed by decongestants. Another 23% of respondents use prescription medication of which 10% specified the use of cardiovascular drugs. Others medication categories included respiratory, endocrine, gastrointestinal, anti-infective, psychotropic, neurological and musculoskeletal [1]. Alarmingly, many of the drugs reported are prescribed for the treatment of medical conditions which may not be compatible with diving.
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