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Excerpt: Knowing About Medicines
SSR: Writing, design
Types of Medicine
Medicines come in the form—tablet, capsule, liquid, drop, or ointment—in which they can work most effectively. Drops, for example, are easy to insert in the eye or ear. Cough medicines come in a syrup because syrups go down more smoothly than do pills, which can bring on cough spasms.
Some medicines dissolve in the mouth, some in the stomach, others in the small intestine or large bowel. Some work quickly, others more slowly.
Each medicine has at least one active ingredient and may have one or more inactive ingredients. Active ingredients are the chemicals that actually treat illness or the symptoms of illness. In a cold capsule, for example, one active ingredient may be antihistamine, which dries up a stuffy nose and takes care of other discomforts of a cold. Other active ingredients may help release the antihistamine gradually into the system, treating the cold symptoms for many hours after the capsule is taken. The inactive ingredients in a medicine are the binders and fillers that give it its form.
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Because people are affected by medicine in different ways, people with the same illness do not always receive the same medicine. In fact, it is dangerous to take medicine that was meant for someone else.
When taken with other medicines, some medicines might not work effectively or might actually do harm. Taking some combinations may cause unnecessary, even hazardous, effects, such as allergic reactions.
To avoid any health risk, never take any medicine without your doctor's approval. And your doctor must know all the medicines—both prescription and OTC—that you are taking before advising you to either stop taking a medicine or to take a new one. . . .
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