Why self-medication is a double-edged sword - The Standard
×

Why self-medication is a double-edged sword

Self-medication is the process of taking medicines, herbs, or home remedies on one's own initiative or based on the advice of others, without seeking professional help from qualified medical personnel. It also involves self-evaluating the intensity of signs and symptoms, which may lead to the use of pharmaceutical products. Medicines used in self-medication include both non-prescription/over-the-counter drugs and prescription-only medicines. The practice of using prescription-only medicines for self-medication is especially prevalent in low-and middle-income settings where weak enforcement of regulations governing the sale of medications allows for liberal access to all classes of medicines.

Self-medication is widespread globally and can be particularly beneficial for the prevention or treatment of minor ailments or symptoms. When practiced responsibly and appropriately, it can alleviate simple medical problems, save time spent waiting to see a doctor, reduce travel costs, and prove economical for non-serious medical issues. Additionally, self-medication can be life-saving in emergency situations such as severe allergic reactions, where any delay in administering medical interventions can be fatal. In the context of chronic or recurring illnesses, patients may self-medicate after an initial diagnosis and prescription, with the doctor maintaining an advisory role.

On the other hand, self-medication can lead to unwanted consequences. Acting without sufficient knowledge may result in the irrational use of drugs, causing serious negative health and economic impacts—including adverse drug reactions, drug interactions, and resource wastage. Furthermore, the unjustified use of medications without medical guidance increases the likelihood of inappropriate, incorrect or excessive therapy, missed diagnoses, delays in suitable treatment, pathogen resistance, increased morbidity, and even death from untreated or under-treated conditions. Notably, one of the most significant public health challenges facing the world today—antimicrobial resistance—is largely fueled by rampant self-medication with antibiotics.

So, what drives self-medication? Acquiring medications without a prescription may be triggered by factors such as improperly reutilising old prescriptions, taking medicines on the advice of relatives and friends, or consuming leftover medications. Furthermore, the growing trend of self-medication can also be attributed to factors like the human predisposition for self-care, the instinctive urge to alleviate the suffering of sick family members or friends, inaccessible and unresponsive healthcare services, and time and financial constraints that prevent individuals from seeking proper health services. Ignorance, misconceptions, extensive advertising, and the easy availability of drugs in retail establishments also contribute to this trend.

There is significant public and professional concern regarding the irrational use of drugs in the form of self-medication. In low-and middle-income countries, the easy availability of a wide range of drugs, coupled with inadequate healthcare services, results in an increased proportion of drugs being used without medical supervision. While self-medication plays a role within the healthcare provision framework and has even been encouraged by governments in some areas, it is imperative for policymakers and citizens to recognise that all medicines have the potential to cause harm, and their justifiable use in therapy is based on calculable risk.

Dr Ambale is a consultant Pharmacist, Pharmacoepidemiology & Pharmacovigilance

Request history8.1.26PHP Version746msRequest Duration3MBMemory UsageGET {category}/article/{id}/{slug}Route
    • Booting (14.05ms)time
    • Application (732ms)time
    • 1 x Application (98.12%)
      732ms
      1 x Booting (1.88%)
      14.05ms
      10 templates were rendered
      • 1x mainsite.articlearticle.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x mainsite.partials.topsectionsubscribetopsectionsubscribe.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x mainsite.partials.footerfooter.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x mainsite.layouts.appapp.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x mainsite.partials.metasmetas.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x mainsite.partials.topbartopbar.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x mainsite.partials.logo_sectionlogo_section.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x mainsite.partials.menumenu.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x mainsite.partials.streamingstreaming.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x mainsite.partials.stickybottomstickybottom.blade.php#?blade
      uri
      GET {category}/article/{id}/{slug}
      middleware
      web
      controller
      App\Http\Controllers\MainsiteController@article
      namespace
      prefix
      where
      file
      app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:610-1160
      36 statements were executed (9 duplicates)Show only duplicates420ms
      • Articles.php#513standard_digital_mainConnection Established
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:513
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:689
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:690
      • Articles.php#520standard_digital_main3.78msselect `id`, `site_id`, `article_category_id`, `title`, `long_title`, `thumbnail_url`, `story`, `published_at`, `premium`, `keywords`, `summary` from `articles` where `id` = '2001503195' and `published_at` <= '2025-01-14 13:26:41' and `deleted_at` is null
        Bindings
        • 0: 2001503195
        • 1: 2025-01-14 13:26:41
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:520
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:689
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:690
      • Articles.php#1435standard_digital_main740μsselect * from `days_quote` where `deleted_at` is null and `quote_day` = '2025-01-14'
        Bindings
        • 0: 2025-01-14
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:1435
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:692
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:693
      • Builder.php#20standard_digital_main890μsselect `authors`.*, `article_authors`.`article_id` as `pivot_article_id`, `article_authors`.`author_id` as `pivot_author_id` from `authors` inner join `article_authors` on `authors`.`id` = `article_authors`.`author_id` where `article_authors`.`article_id` = 2001503195 and `authors`.`deleted_at` is null
        Bindings
        • 0: 2001503195
        Backtrace
        • vendor/rennokki/laravel-eloquent-query-cache/src/Query/Builder.php:20
        • vendor/rennokki/laravel-eloquent-query-cache/src/Traits/QueryCacheModule.php:103
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/rennokki/laravel-eloquent-query-cache/src/Traits/QueryCacheModule.php:84
        • vendor/rennokki/laravel-eloquent-query-cache/src/Query/Builder.php:21
      • Articles.php#147standard_digital_main1.01msselect `id` from `article_categories` where `site_id` = 1 and `id` = 7 or `parent_id` = 7 and `deleted_at` is null
        Bindings
        • 0: 1
        • 1: 7
        • 2: 7
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:147
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:759
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:760
      • Articles.php#164standard_digital_main6.19msselect `id`, `article_category_id`, `title`, `thumbnail_url`, `published_at`, `premium` from `articles` where `article_category_id` in (7, 33, 35, 59, 487, 614) and `site_id` = 1 and `deleted_at` is null and `published_at` <= '2025-01-14 13:26:41' order by `published_at` desc, `list_order` asc, `parent_category_list_order` asc limit 10 offset 0
        Bindings
        • 0: 7
        • 1: 33
        • 2: 35
        • 3: 59
        • 4: 487
        • 5: 614
        • 6: 1
        • 7: 2025-01-14 13:26:41
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:164
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:759
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:760
      • Articles.php#164standard_digital_main790μsselect `id`, `name`, `parent_id` from `article_categories` where `article_categories`.`id` in (7)
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:164
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:759
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:760
      • Articles.php#53standard_digital_main660μsselect `id`, `name`, `short_name`, `parent_id`, `site_id` from `article_categories` where `id` = 7
        Bindings
        • 0: 7
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:53
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:338
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:769
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
      • Articles.php#53standard_digital_main750μsselect `id`, `name`, `short_name`, `parent_id`, `site_id` from `article_categories` where `id` is null
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:53
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:343
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:769
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
      • Articles.php#55standard_digital_mainConnection Established
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:55
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:343
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:769
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
      • Articles.php#55standard_digital_main6.28msselect `id`, `name`, `short_name`, `parent_id`, `site_id` from `article_categories` where `id` is null
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:55
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:343
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:769
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
      • Articles.php#57standard_digital_mainConnection Established
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:57
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:343
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:769
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
      • Articles.php#57standard_digital_main3.54msselect `id`, `name`, `short_name`, `parent_id`, `site_id` from `article_categories` where `id` is null
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:57
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:343
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:769
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
      • Articles.php#60standard_digital_main1.07msselect `id`, `name`, `short_name`, `parent_id`, `site_id` from `article_categories` where `refer_id` is null
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:60
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:343
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:769
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
      • Articles.php#688standard_digital_main78.19msselect `id`, `site_id`, `article_category_id`, `title`, `thumbnail_url`, `story`, `published_at`, `premium` from `articles` where (`keywords` LIKE '%[\"Self-Medication\",\"Antimicrobial Resistance\",\"Adverse Drug Reactions\"]%') and `site_id` = 1 and `published_at` <= '2025-01-14 13:26:41' and `deleted_at` is null and `id` not in ('2001503195') order by `published_at` desc limit 4 offset 0
        Bindings
        • 0: %["Self-Medication","Antimicrobial Resistance","Adverse Drug Reactions"]%
        • 1: 1
        • 2: 2025-01-14 13:26:41
        • 3: 2001503195
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:688
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:853
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:854
      • Articles.php#424standard_digital_main82.52msselect `id`, `article_category_id`, `title`, `thumbnail_url`, `published_at`, `premium` from `articles` where (`site_id` = 1 or `site_id` = 16 or `site_id` = 20) and `deleted_at` is null and `published_at` <= '2025-01-14 13:26:41' and `published_at` >= '2025-01-14 12:26:41' order by RAND(), `published_at` desc, `homepage_list_order` asc, `list_order` asc limit 4 offset 0
        Bindings
        • 0: 1
        • 1: 16
        • 2: 20
        • 3: 2025-01-14 13:26:41
        • 4: 2025-01-14 12:26:41
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:424
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:857
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:858
      • Articles.php#424standard_digital_main1.02msselect `id`, `name`, `parent_id` from `article_categories` where `article_categories`.`id` in (18, 588)
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:424
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:857
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:858
      • Articles.php#147standard_digital_main1.01msselect `id` from `article_categories` where `site_id` = 1 and `id` = 480 or `parent_id` = 480 and `deleted_at` is null
        Bindings
        • 0: 1
        • 1: 480
        • 2: 480
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:147
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:861
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:862
      • Articles.php#164standard_digital_main1.12msselect `id`, `article_category_id`, `title`, `thumbnail_url`, `published_at`, `premium` from `articles` where `article_category_id` in (480, 481, 482, 719) and `site_id` = 1 and `deleted_at` is null and `published_at` <= '2025-01-14 13:26:41' order by `published_at` desc, `list_order` asc, `parent_category_list_order` asc limit 4 offset 0
        Bindings
        • 0: 480
        • 1: 481
        • 2: 482
        • 3: 719
        • 4: 1
        • 5: 2025-01-14 13:26:41
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:164
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:861
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:862
      • Articles.php#164standard_digital_main900μsselect `id`, `name`, `parent_id` from `article_categories` where `article_categories`.`id` in (482)
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:164
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:861
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:862
      • Articles.php#753standard_digital_main1.14msselect `id`, `article_category_id`, `title`, `thumbnail_url`, `published_at`, `premium` from `articles` where (`premium` = 1 or `article_category_id` = 486) and `site_id` = '1' and `deleted_at` is null and `published_at` <= '2025-01-14 13:26:41' and `homepage_list_order` is not null order by `published_at` desc, `homepage_list_order` asc, `list_order` asc limit 4 offset 0
        Bindings
        • 0: 1
        • 1: 486
        • 2: 1
        • 3: 2025-01-14 13:26:41
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:753
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:869
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:870
      • Articles.php#753standard_digital_main880μsselect `id`, `name`, `parent_id` from `article_categories` where `article_categories`.`id` in (22, 588)
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:753
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:869
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:870
      • Articles.php#819standard_digital_main38.81msselect `id`, `site_id`, `article_category_id`, `title`, `thumbnail_url`, `story`, `published_at`, `premium` from `articles` where `id` < '2001503195' and `site_id` = 1 and `published_at` <= '2025-01-14 13:26:41' and `deleted_at` is null order by `id` desc limit 1
        Bindings
        • 0: 2001503195
        • 1: 1
        • 2: 2025-01-14 13:26:41
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:819
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:873
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:874
      • Articles.php#819standard_digital_main940μsselect `id`, `name`, `parent_id` from `article_categories` where `article_categories`.`id` in (74)
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:819
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:873
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:874
      • Articles.php#865standard_digital_main3.48msselect `id`, `site_id`, `article_category_id`, `title`, `thumbnail_url`, `story`, `published_at`, `premium` from `articles` where `id` > '2001503195' and `site_id` = 1 and `deleted_at` is null and `published_at` <= '2025-01-14 13:26:41' limit 1
        Bindings
        • 0: 2001503195
        • 1: 1
        • 2: 2025-01-14 13:26:41
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:865
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:873
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:874
      • Articles.php#865standard_digital_main1.02msselect `id`, `name`, `parent_id` from `article_categories` where `article_categories`.`id` in (26)
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:865
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:873
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:874
      • Articles.php#1288standard_digital_main8.75msselect `id`, `site_id`, `article_category_id`, `title`, `thumbnail_url`, `story`, `published_at`, `premium` from `articles` where `published_at` <= '2025-01-14 13:26:41' and `article_category_id` = 7 and `site_id` = 1 and `id` not in ('2001503195') order by `homepage_list_order` asc, `published_at` desc limit 6 offset 0
        Bindings
        • 0: 2025-01-14 13:26:41
        • 1: 7
        • 2: 1
        • 3: 2001503195
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:1288
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:877
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:878
      • Articles.php#1288standard_digital_main820μsselect `id`, `name`, `parent_id` from `article_categories` where `article_categories`.`id` in (7)
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:1288
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:877
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:878
      • Builder.php#20standard_digital_main24.1msselect `videos`.`id`, `videos`.`video_category_id`, `videos`.`title`, `videos`.`video_url`, `videos`.`description`, `videos`.`published_at`, `videos`.`thumbnail_url` from `videos` inner join `video_categories` on `video_categories`.`id` = `videos`.`video_category_id` where (`keywords` LIKE '%[\"Self-Medication\",\"Antimicrobial Resistance\",\"Adverse Drug Reactions\"]%') and `videos`.`deleted_at` is null and `video_categories`.`video_type_id` = 1 order by `published_at` desc limit 3 offset 0
        Bindings
        • 0: %["Self-Medication","Antimicrobial Resistance","Adverse Drug Reactions"]%
        • 1: 1
        Backtrace
        • vendor/rennokki/laravel-eloquent-query-cache/src/Query/Builder.php:20
        • vendor/rennokki/laravel-eloquent-query-cache/src/Traits/QueryCacheModule.php:103
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/rennokki/laravel-eloquent-query-cache/src/Traits/QueryCacheModule.php:84
        • vendor/rennokki/laravel-eloquent-query-cache/src/Query/Builder.php:21
      • Articles.php#3749standard_digital_main880μsselect count(std_trend_article_id) as count, std_trend_article_id from `std_article_trends` group by `std_trend_article_id` order by `count` desc limit 20
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:3749
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:885
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:886
      • Articles.php#3775standard_digital_main840μsselect `id`, `article_category_id`, `title`, `thumbnail_url`, `published_at`, `premium` from `articles` where `id` in (2001509544, 2001509575, 2001249065, 2001509510, 2001509570, 2001509550, 2000209865, 2001509560, 2001464039, 2000127008, 2001455586, 2001509579, 2001395020, 2001509289, 2001509539, 2001509531, 2001509533, 2001509503, 2001462576, 2001471247) and `deleted_at` is null and `published_at` <= '2025-01-14 13:26:41' and `homepage_list_order` is not null order by `published_at` desc, `homepage_list_order` asc, `list_order` asc limit 5
        Bindings
        • 0: 2001509544
        • 1: 2001509575
        • 2: 2001249065
        • 3: 2001509510
        • 4: 2001509570
        • 5: 2001509550
        • 6: 2000209865
        • 7: 2001509560
        • 8: 2001464039
        • 9: 2000127008
        • 10: 2001455586
        • 11: 2001509579
        • 12: 2001395020
        • 13: 2001509289
        • 14: 2001509539
        • 15: 2001509531
        • 16: 2001509533
        • 17: 2001509503
        • 18: 2001462576
        • 19: 2001471247
        • 20: 2025-01-14 13:26:41
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:3775
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:885
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:886
      • Articles.php#3775standard_digital_main820μsselect `id`, `name`, `parent_id` from `article_categories` where `article_categories`.`id` in (7, 18, 277, 416, 588)
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:3775
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:885
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:886
      • CookieTool.php#185standard_digital_main1.07msselect * from `settings` where `meta_name` = 'article_age' limit 1
        Bindings
        • 0: article_age
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/CookieTool.php:185
        • app/Http/Controllers/MainsiteController.php:902
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Controller.php:54
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/ControllerDispatcher.php:43
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Route.php:260
      • helper.php#424standard_digital_main1.12msselect * from article_categories where id = '7'
        Backtrace
        • app/Library/helper.php:424
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Filesystem/Filesystem.php:110
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/PhpEngine.php:58
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/CompilerEngine.php:70
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/View.php:195
      • helper.php#424standard_digital_main730μsselect * from article_categories where id = '7'
        Backtrace
        • app/Library/helper.php:424
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Filesystem/Filesystem.php:110
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/PhpEngine.php:58
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/CompilerEngine.php:70
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/View.php:195
      • helper.php#424standard_digital_main900μsselect * from article_categories where id = '7'
        Backtrace
        • app/Library/helper.php:424
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Filesystem/Filesystem.php:110
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/PhpEngine.php:58
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/CompilerEngine.php:70
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/View.php:195
      • helper.php#424standard_digital_main850μsselect * from article_categories where id = '7'
        Backtrace
        • app/Library/helper.php:424
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Filesystem/Filesystem.php:110
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/PhpEngine.php:58
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/CompilerEngine.php:70
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/View.php:195
      • Articles.php#1350standard_digital_main141msselect * from `articles` where `deleted_at` is null and `published_at` <= '2025-01-14 13:26:42' and (`keywords` like '%Self-Medication%' or `keywords` like '%Antimicrobial Resistance%' or `keywords` like '%Adverse Drug Reactions%') and (`site_id` = 1 or `site_id` = 16 or `site_id` = 20) and `id` <> '2001503195' order by `published_at` desc limit 3
        Bindings
        • 0: 2025-01-14 13:26:42
        • 1: %Self-Medication%
        • 2: %Antimicrobial Resistance%
        • 3: %Adverse Drug Reactions%
        • 4: 1
        • 5: 16
        • 6: 20
        • 7: 2001503195
        Backtrace
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:1350
        • app/Utils/Articles.php:1672
        • view::mainsite.article:582
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Filesystem/Filesystem.php:110
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/PhpEngine.php:58
      • app.blade.php#825standard_digital_main890μsselect * from `favourite_topics` where `status` = 1
        Bindings
        • 0: 1
        Backtrace
        • view::mainsite.layouts.app:825
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Filesystem/Filesystem.php:110
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/PhpEngine.php:58
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/CompilerEngine.php:70
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/View.php:195
      App\Models\Category
      384Category.php#?
      App\Models\Article
      37Article.php#?
      App\Models\Trending
      20Trending.php#?
      App\Topic
      16Topic.php#?
      App\Models\Author
      14Author.php#?
          _token
          9yOXbZ8HmDXNHUPPv5LhOxcZtJzjQwFvrvV0IG1U
          offset
          0
          _previous
          array:1 [ "url" => "http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/main-staging/opinion/article/2001503195/why-sel...
          _flash
          array:2 [ "old" => [] "new" => [] ]
          path_info
          /opinion/article/2001503195/why-self-medication-is-a-double-edged-sword
          status_code
          200
          
          status_text
          OK
          format
          html
          content_type
          text/html; charset=UTF-8
          request_query
          []
          
          request_request
          []
          
          request_headers
          0 of 0
          array:23 [ "cf-ray" => array:1 [ 0 => "901cedcb5b8ee1a9-EWR" ] "cf-connecting-ip" => array:1 [ 0 => "18.118.137.44" ] "host" => array:1 [ 0 => "www.standardmedia.co.ke" ] "x-forwarded-for" => array:1 [ 0 => "18.118.137.44" ] "accept-encoding" => array:1 [ 0 => "gzip, br" ] "priority" => array:1 [ 0 => "u=0, i" ] "x-forwarded-proto" => array:1 [ 0 => "https" ] "sec-fetch-dest" => array:1 [ 0 => "document" ] "sec-fetch-user" => array:1 [ 0 => "?1" ] "cf-visitor" => array:1 [ 0 => "{"scheme":"https"}" ] "cf-ipcountry" => array:1 [ 0 => "US" ] "sec-fetch-mode" => array:1 [ 0 => "navigate" ] "cdn-loop" => array:1 [ 0 => "cloudflare; loops=1" ] "sec-fetch-site" => array:1 [ 0 => "none" ] "accept" => array:1 [ 0 => "text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,image/avif,image/webp,image/apng,*/*;q=0.8,application/signed-exchange;v=b3;q=0.7" ] "connection" => array:1 [ 0 => "Keep-Alive" ] "user-agent" => array:1 [ 0 => "Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)" ] "pragma" => array:1 [ 0 => "no-cache" ] "cache-control" => array:1 [ 0 => "no-cache" ] "sec-ch-ua" => array:1 [ 0 => ""HeadlessChrome";v="129", "Not=A?Brand";v="8", "Chromium";v="129"" ] "sec-ch-ua-mobile" => array:1 [ 0 => "?0" ] "sec-ch-ua-platform" => array:1 [ 0 => ""Windows"" ] "upgrade-insecure-requests" => array:1 [ 0 => "1" ] ]
          request_cookies
          []
          
          response_headers
          0 of 0
          array:5 [ "content-type" => array:1 [ 0 => "text/html; charset=UTF-8" ] "cache-control" => array:1 [ 0 => "no-cache, private" ] "date" => array:1 [ 0 => "Tue, 14 Jan 2025 10:26:42 GMT" ] "set-cookie" => array:2 [ 0 => "XSRF-TOKEN=eyJpdiI6IkVyWUJZL0J6V1VGUW83b1J6TXBzTGc9PSIsInZhbHVlIjoiQyt6OXhxSzlLcmg1REhhMW1kMnZGalFwRC9QcDJVb2Fuc09KRVdLNldCSmo5UEFDVXZIWFlJUmpqelpuMnhDRHYrcksvOG1tZHBtY2pxMWRIT0ZzZE8wUjBhaFZ3alpqeEtPaHZtRWViZGhUeEdReVlQd1FBb0lvTzFvRlRkdEkiLCJtYWMiOiIwNDRhNGYwOGFmMjdjNzhlNjZmN2Y1NDc3YmE5N2RmODBhYzhkN2E4OWQ2ODQ1MGE5MTY5OWIyNmY3YzlmMGJjIiwidGFnIjoiIn0%3D; expires=Thu, 13 Feb 2025 20:55:42 GMT; Max-Age=2629740; path=/; samesite=laxXSRF-TOKEN=eyJpdiI6IkVyWUJZL0J6V1VGUW83b1J6TXBzTGc9PSIsInZhbHVlIjoiQyt6OXhxSzlLcmg1REhhMW1kMnZGalFwRC9QcDJVb2Fuc09KRVdLNldCSmo5UEFDVXZIWFlJUmpqelpuMnhDRHYrcksvO" 1 => "thestandardmediagroup_session=eyJpdiI6IkhhQzlqemYzb2piUDB6WkhBakIwU1E9PSIsInZhbHVlIjoiZ25mbGVSdytrcDFHZHY3UFV6eTNpMHpuR2gzSHVlZGJEWXlMNGYrellOMVlOWG1JSW1tTnBweEU0bHVjUXg3UU43Qi93WlVTbWQzVEYyejFlZzFQQ2ZLRThaSmp1R1M3RFFIczk4WWpCS2xpc2hyYVVFbXBMRjVpYlBkQnA3Wi8iLCJtYWMiOiIyZDQ4NmU5Y2ZjMjZkOGU5YjMxMmQ1N2M1MzllYmFiYTIyOTk5NjhhMGE2NWU0OGQxNThhMzIxMGI3Zjc3MGJhIiwidGFnIjoiIn0%3D; expires=Thu, 13 Feb 2025 20:55:42 GMT; Max-Age=2629740; path=/; httponly; samesite=laxthestandardmediagroup_session=eyJpdiI6IkhhQzlqemYzb2piUDB6WkhBakIwU1E9PSIsInZhbHVlIjoiZ25mbGVSdytrcDFHZHY3UFV6eTNpMHpuR2gzSHVlZGJEWXlMNGYrellOMVlOWG1JSW1tTnBweE" ] "Set-Cookie" => array:2 [ 0 => "XSRF-TOKEN=eyJpdiI6IkVyWUJZL0J6V1VGUW83b1J6TXBzTGc9PSIsInZhbHVlIjoiQyt6OXhxSzlLcmg1REhhMW1kMnZGalFwRC9QcDJVb2Fuc09KRVdLNldCSmo5UEFDVXZIWFlJUmpqelpuMnhDRHYrcksvOG1tZHBtY2pxMWRIT0ZzZE8wUjBhaFZ3alpqeEtPaHZtRWViZGhUeEdReVlQd1FBb0lvTzFvRlRkdEkiLCJtYWMiOiIwNDRhNGYwOGFmMjdjNzhlNjZmN2Y1NDc3YmE5N2RmODBhYzhkN2E4OWQ2ODQ1MGE5MTY5OWIyNmY3YzlmMGJjIiwidGFnIjoiIn0%3D; expires=Thu, 13-Feb-2025 20:55:42 GMT; path=/XSRF-TOKEN=eyJpdiI6IkVyWUJZL0J6V1VGUW83b1J6TXBzTGc9PSIsInZhbHVlIjoiQyt6OXhxSzlLcmg1REhhMW1kMnZGalFwRC9QcDJVb2Fuc09KRVdLNldCSmo5UEFDVXZIWFlJUmpqelpuMnhDRHYrcksvO" 1 => "thestandardmediagroup_session=eyJpdiI6IkhhQzlqemYzb2piUDB6WkhBakIwU1E9PSIsInZhbHVlIjoiZ25mbGVSdytrcDFHZHY3UFV6eTNpMHpuR2gzSHVlZGJEWXlMNGYrellOMVlOWG1JSW1tTnBweEU0bHVjUXg3UU43Qi93WlVTbWQzVEYyejFlZzFQQ2ZLRThaSmp1R1M3RFFIczk4WWpCS2xpc2hyYVVFbXBMRjVpYlBkQnA3Wi8iLCJtYWMiOiIyZDQ4NmU5Y2ZjMjZkOGU5YjMxMmQ1N2M1MzllYmFiYTIyOTk5NjhhMGE2NWU0OGQxNThhMzIxMGI3Zjc3MGJhIiwidGFnIjoiIn0%3D; expires=Thu, 13-Feb-2025 20:55:42 GMT; path=/; httponlythestandardmediagroup_session=eyJpdiI6IkhhQzlqemYzb2piUDB6WkhBakIwU1E9PSIsInZhbHVlIjoiZ25mbGVSdytrcDFHZHY3UFV6eTNpMHpuR2gzSHVlZGJEWXlMNGYrellOMVlOWG1JSW1tTnBweE" ] ]
          session_attributes
          0 of 0
          array:4 [ "_token" => "9yOXbZ8HmDXNHUPPv5LhOxcZtJzjQwFvrvV0IG1U" "offset" => 0 "_previous" => array:1 [ "url" => "http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/main-staging/opinion/article/2001503195/why-self-medication-is-a-double-edged-sword" ] "_flash" => array:2 [ "old" => [] "new" => [] ] ]
          ClearShow all
          Date ↕MethodURLData
          #12025-01-14 13:26:42GET/main-staging/opinion/article/2001503195/why-self-medication-is-a-double-edged-sword1036471