As people get older, they often end up with more doctor’s visits, which often ends up with recommended medications and treatments. But doctors, nurses, and pharmacists, as well as other health care professionals, have their own language that they use to communicate with each other. It may seem odd, but the abbreviations and language they use are meant to prevent misunderstandings and errors, which could cost lives.

So, if you’re looking at a newly written prescription or consult, here are some of the more common abbreviations you might come across:

• QD - once a day
• BID - twice a day
• TID - three times a day
• QID - four times a day

Keep in mind that twice a day doesn’t necessarily mean every 12 hours, just as TID doesn’t mean every 8 and QID not every 6. Those mean just evenly spaced throughout the day.

• Q4H - every four hours. "Q" means every, followed by the number and H for hours.
• QW - every week
• OD - right eye
• OU - left eye
• CHD - coronary heart disease
• COPD - chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• DOB - date of birth
• DVT - deep vein thrombosis
• SOB

There are many more. A good site to visit to find out about abbreviations is Wikipedia. I don’t usually send people there, but other sites can be overwhelming sometimes.