Editing Contraindication (section)

{{Short description|Condition that serves as a reason not to take a certain medical treatment}}
In [[medicine]], a '''contraindication''' is a condition (a situation or factor) that serves as a reason not to take a certain medical treatment due to the harm that it would cause the patient.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mw4.m-w.com/medical/contraindication |title=Contraindication - Medical Definition and More from Merriam-Webster |access-date=14 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003153718/http://mw4.m-w.com/medical/contraindication |archive-date=3 October 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002314.htm |title=Contraindication: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia |last=Vorvick |first=Linda J., MD |date=21 January 2013 |editor1=A.D.A.M. Health Solutions, Ebix Inc. |editor2=David Zieve |editor3=MHA, David |editor4=R. Eltz |editor5=Stephanie Slon |editor6=Nissi Wang |website=[[MEDLINE]] |publisher=[[United States National Library of Medicine]] |access-date=7 November 2014 |archive-date=5 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160705121004/https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002314.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>  Contraindication is the opposite of [[Indication (medicine)|indication]], which is a reason to use a certain treatment.

'''Absolute contraindications''' are contraindications for which there are no reasonable circumstances for undertaking a course of action (that is, overriding the prohibition).  For example:
* Children and teenagers with viral infections should not be given [[aspirin]] because of the risk of [[Reye syndrome]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The Essence of Analgesia and Analgesics |author1=Raymond S. Sinatra |author2=Jonathan S. Jahr |author3=J. Michael Watkins-Pitchford |year=2011 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-14450-6 |page=253 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZwPIjKg0XukC&q=absolute%20contraindication%20aspirin%20Reye's%20syndrome&pg=PA253}}</ref>
* A person with an [[Anaphylaxis|anaphylactic]] [[food allergy]] should never eat the food to which they are allergic.
* A person with [[hemochromatosis]] should not be administered iron preparations.
* Some medications are so [[teratology|teratogenic]] that they are absolutely contraindicated in pregnancy; examples include [[thalidomide]] and [[isotretinoin]].

'''Relative contraindications''' are contraindications for circumstances in which the patient is at higher risk of complications from treatment, but these risks may be outweighed by other considerations or mitigated by other measures. For example, pregnant individuals should normally avoid getting [[X-ray]]s, but the risk from [[radiography]] may be outweighed by the benefit of diagnosing (and then treating) a serious condition such as [[tuberculosis]].

Another principal pair of [[terminology|terms]] for '''''relative contraindications'' versus ''absolute contraindications''''' is '''''cautions'' versus ''contraindications''''', or (similarly) '''''precautions'' versus ''contraindications''''': these pairs of terms are respectively synonymous. Which pair is used depends on [[nomenclature]] enforced by each organization's [[style guide|style]]. For example, the ''[[British National Formulary]]'' uses the ''cautions versus contraindications'' pair, and various U.S. [[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention|CDC]] webpages use ''precautions'' versus ''contraindications''. The logic of the latter two styles is the idea that readers must never be confused: the word ''contraindication'' in that [[usage (language)|usage]] ''always'' is meant in its absolute [[word sense|sense]], providing unmistakable [[word-sense disambiguation]].