What is the Meaning & Definition of vade mecum

The Vademecum is a text that collects the information to all the drugs available in a country and globally in a given period of time, the same is updated each year. It is aimed at health personnel as it is the case of doctors, pharmacists and dentists, however in many countries you also have access the general public.
Initially the vademecum were books with annual, currently available in digital versions, included in the software of medical stories and they can even be downloaded as applications for devices such as personal computers, tablet or mobile phones in versions adapted to the different types of operating systems.

What information contain a Vademecum?

The information contained in the vademecum is presented according to a scheme which includes:
-Active ingredient or generic name.
-Trademarks and pharmaceutical laboratory of each brand.
-Presentations. form in which the drug, comes available specifies it's tablets, tablets, capsules syrup, drops, oral solution, solution for nebulization, creams, ointments, patches, spray, inhaler, vials for intramuscular use or ampoules for intravenous use. Also specify the concentration of each presentation and the number of doses that contains each packaging.
-Indications. Sets the different uses for which the drug is approved.
-Dosage. Specifies the dosage indicated for each product in the different pathologies, both for adults and children, as well as what should be the duration of the treatment.
-Contraindications. It corresponds to the cases or conditions in which it is not advisable to use the drug.
-Interactions. In some versions it is possible to have information related to the different drugs that a drug can show some kind of interaction, this is very valuable since it avoids prescriptions that can produce significant adverse impacts or decompensation of associated pathologies.

How is the information?

The vademecum are mainly grouped in indexes by active ingredient information, however also show information based on other parameters as in the case of products according to the pharmaceutical laboratory that produced it or products according to its therapeutic effect (pain relievers, antihypertensives, hypoglycemic, anti-inflammatory, antibiotics, etc.).
Many times they have attachments which indicates the active principles or submissions that are not already available in the updated edition as well as the interactions between different drugs. They also provide the contact details of various pharmaceutical companies.
Article contributed by the team of collaborators.