Background: Self-medication is defined as using medicinal products to treat disorders or symptoms diagnosed by one-self. Although informed self-medication is one of the ways to reduce health care costs, inappropriate self-treatment can pose various risks including drug side effects, recurrence of symptoms, drug resistance, etc. The purpose of this study was to investigate the knowledge, attitude, and practice of pharmacy and medical students toward self-medication.Methods: This study was conducted in Zabol University of Medical Sciences during 2018. A sample of 170 pharmacy and medical students was selected. A three-part researcher-made questionnaire was designed to address students’ knowledge, attitude, and practice. Statistical analysis was performed in SPSS 25 software.Results: According to the results, 97 (57.1%) of the students had carried out self-medication within the past 6 months. Overall, the students used self-medication on average 4.2 ±2.9 times per year. Self-medication was more prevalent in male students (65.4%, P=0.043). Cough and cold were the most common symptoms treated with self-medication (93.2%), and antibiotics (74.4%) were the most commonly used drugs. The primary information source used by the students was their previous physician prescription (47.4%). Pharmacy students showed a higher level of drug information (P<0.001). There was a statistically significant association between the level of drug information and the rate of self-medication (P=0.005). Disease recurrence was the most common negative complication of self-medication.Conclusion: There is a need to educate pharmacy and medical students regarding self-medication and its side effects. The high prevalence of self-medication and the overuse of antibiotics can pose a significant risk of drug resistance.

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Background: Self-medication is defined as using medicinal products to treat disorders or symptoms diagnosed by one-self. Although informed self-medication is one of the ways to reduce health care costs, inappropriate self-treatment can pose various risks including drug side effects, recurrence of symptoms, drug resistance, etc. The purpose of this study was to investigate the knowledge, attitude, and practice of pharmacy and medical students toward self-medication.Methods: This study was conducted in Zabol University of Medical Sciences during 2018. A sample of 170 pharmacy and medical students was selected. A standard three-part researcher-made questionnaire was designed to address students’ knowledge, attitude, and practice. Statistical analysis was performed in SPSS 25 software.Results: According to the results, 97 (57.1%) of the students had carried out self-medication within the past 6 months. Overall, the students used self-medication on average of 4.2 ± 2.9 times per year. Self-medication was more prevalent in male students (65.4%, P = 0.043). Cough and cold were the most common symptoms treated with self-medication (93.2%), and antibiotics (74.4%) were the most commonly used drugs. The primary information source used by the students was their previous physician prescription (47.4%). Medical students' attitude toward self-medication was more positive than that of pharmacy students (19.82 ± 4.84 vs. 21.67 ± 4.05, P = 0.033). Pharmacy students; however, showed higher levels of drug information (P < 0.001). There was a statistically significant association between the level of drug information and the rate of self-medication (P = 0.005). Disease recurrence was the most common negative complication of self-medication.Conclusion: There is a need to educate pharmacy and medical students regarding self-medication and its side effects. The high prevalence of self-medication and the overuse of antibiotics can pose a significant risk of drug resistance.

Considering the unfavourable response of breast cancer (BC) to treatment, we assessed the therapeutic potential hesperidin in mice bearing 4T1 BC tumours. Anti‐tumour effects were assessed by measuring pathologic complete response (pCR), survival analysis, immunohistochemistry for E‐cadherin, VEGF, MMP9, MMP2 and Ki‐67, serum measurement of IFNγ and IL‐4, and gene expression analysis of CD105, VEGFa, VEGFR2 and COX2. Survival of tumour‐bearing mice was the highest in mice receiving a combination of hesperidin and doxorubicin (Dox) (80%) compared to the normal saline (43%), hesperidin 5 (54%), 10 (55.5%), 10 (60.5%) and 40 (66%) mg/kg, and 10 mg/kg Dox‐treated (73%) groups (p < 0.0001 for all). Compared to the normal saline group, there was a significant elevation in IFNγ level in the animals receiving 20 (p = 0.0026) and 40 (p < 0.001) mg/kg hesperidin, 10 mg/kg Dox (p < 0.001), and combined hesperidin (20 mg/kg) and Dox (10 mg/kg) (p < 0.001). A significant reduction in the gene expression of CD 105 (p = 0.0106), VEGFa (p < 0.0001), VEGFR2 (p < 0.0001), and Cox2 (p = 0.034) and a significant higher pCR score (p = 0.006) were noticed in mice treated with 10 mg/kg Dox + 20 mg/kg hesperidin compared to those treated with 10 mg/kg Dox alone. Immunohistochemical staining showed significant reductions in Ki‐67 (p < 0.001) and VEGF (p < 0.001) and a significant elevation in E‐cadherin (p = 0.005) in the 10 mg/kg Dox + 20 mg/kg treatment group than in 10 mg/kg Dox alone group. Hesperidin can be considered as a potentially suitable anti‐cancer agent for BC that can synergize with other chemotherapeutics.