is secondary effects the same as side effects?

Question

when referring to medicine and treatments, does secondary effects have the same meaning as side effects??? is one american and one english???

Answer 1

They could mean the same yet they could differ in some aspects.
The side effect means a secondary and usually any unwanted adverse effect of a drug or therapy. While the secondary effect effect means it is the effect which is not the main purpose but yields as another effect to some degree which could be beneficial or harmful. ☺

Answer 2

NO--they are both english language--but meaning is different--
Side effects are those which are encountered mostly during the therapy with a medication which are not generally expected and have to be treated then and there.
Secondary effects are those which may occur later mostly as a sequel of the treatment wih the particular drug
and generally show up in some other system of the body
--but usually they are confused to be the same

Answer 3

Not necessarily. In vet med anyway, and vet med and human med run pretty close...

a side effect can be good, bad, or neither but just something that happens. Like the side effect of one drug could be discolored stool. No problem, just something you'll notice.

A secondary effect is another effect of a drug that may allow extra-label use of the drug. For example, one drug may primarily be used to calm upset stomach and prevent nausea. But the secondary effect is sedation, so the drug is often used to help people sleep at night.

They could in a given instance mean the same thing, but they're used differentially to allow to distinguish between the outcomes of the other effect. Side effect doesn't have any "value" but a secondary effect could have a use in treatment.

Answer 4

To some extent, the identification of a primary and secondary efect of a medication is arbitrary. Consider the antihistamine diphenhydramine. As "Benedryl" it is used as a drug to counteract allergy symptoms. A side effect, which is also secondary (as in not the primary intended effect) is drowsiness. As "Sominex", diphenhydramine is used primarily as a sleep aid, so in this case, for the same drug drowsiness would be considered neither a secondary nor a side effect.

Therefore, identification of side and/or secondary effects are to a great extent dependent upon the indication (or reason) for using the drug. In pharmacy jargon, and unwanted side effect if often referred to as an "adverse effect" to make the distinction more clear.

Answer 5

Here is the definition of "side effect" from Merriam-Webster's online dictionary:

"a secondary and usually adverse effect (as of a drug)"

So yes, secondary effect and side effect have the same meaning, just stated in a different way.

Answer 6

Yes. It is the same as I suppose

Answer 7

I guess they mean the same thing.

Answer 8

No both are different.