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Ms. Li is an ordinary office worker with a fast pace of life, and she is usually busy with work, and often does not care about eating well.
Recently, she felt unwell, and the doctor advised her to take medication on time. However, she is always used to swallowing a pill in a hurry after a meal, which she finds most convenient.
She thinks that drugs are not just to regulate the body, and eating them after meals can also reduce the irritation of the stomach. It wasn't until one day that she came across a popular science article about the time to take a drug, and she realized that she might have made a common but serious mistake.
In fact, some medications are best absorbed on an empty stomach, while others need to be taken for a specific period of time to be most effective. The relationship between medication and eating time is complex, and simply taking it after a meal can make it less effective or even ineffective.
This is a health misconception that is ignored by most people, and many people have greatly reduced the effectiveness of the medicine, and even took the medicine in vain. So, when is it the most scientific time to take medicine?
Depending on the research, the process of absorption and metabolism in the body varies from drug to drug. For example, some studies have shown that blood pressure medications taken in the morning are more effective at controlling blood pressure, as the body's blood pressure typically rises in the morning.
Some medications used to relieve stomach acid are more suitable to be taken on an empty stomach before meals to prevent excessive stomach acid secretion.
Relevant data show that scientific and reasonable medication time can improve the effect of drugs by 20%-50%, which is enough to affect the treatment effect and recovery speed. Therefore, it is crucial to know the best time to take your medication and never ignore these details for convenience.
1. Before or after a meal?
Many people take medicine every day, but few people really pay attention to the time of taking medicine. You may think, just take the medicine, whether it's before or after a meal.
But in fact, the time when the drug is taken determines its absorption and effect in the body, and if you don't know this time, it is likely that the drug has not worked and has been wasted.
Some people think that taking medicine after meals is an "insurance" practice, especially those who have a bad stomach, and feel that medicine and food together can protect the stomach. Actually, this idea is not entirely true.
Taking medicine after a meal can indeed reduce the irritation of some drugs to the gastric mucosa, but not all drugs are suitable to take at this time.
To put it simply, some drugs have ingredients that are more easily absorbed by the body on an empty stomach or can reach the lesion more quickly. If you take it after a meal, the drug will be "blocked" by the food, and the absorption efficiency will be discounted, and the effect of the medicine will naturally be greatly reduced.
In fact, the absorption of drugs is not only related to before and after meals, but also inextricably linked to the body's biological clock.
What you may not know is that the various organs of the human body also have their own "work schedules" during the 24-hour day.
For example, after waking up in the morning, blood pressure tends to rise gradually, which is the body's preparation for the day's activities. If you need to take medication to control your blood pressure, you may have to take it at this time to get more results with less.
When it comes to taking medicine before meals, many people are scared when they hear "on an empty stomach", worrying about whether taking medicine on an empty stomach will hurt their stomach. This is also a misunderstanding.
The so-called "fasting" does not mean that you have to be hungry to put your chest on your back before you can take medicine. In general, fasting is when you don't eat for two hours before and for an hour after taking the medicine to ensure that the medicine is not interfered with by food.
Many drugs need to be taken in this state in order to quickly enter the bloodstream and exert their effects.
Of course, being particular about the timing of your medication doesn't mean you need to be complicated. Many medications will clearly indicate the best time to take them on the label, and if you are unsure, it is the easiest and most straightforward way to ask your doctor.
If you take certain medications for a long time, such as antihypertensive drugs and diabetes medications, your doctor will often give you detailed recommendations on the time to take the medication, which is not just a casual statement, but has been derived from a lot of research and clinical practice.
Taking your medicine according to your doctor's instructions will not only give you the best effect on your medication, but also avoid some unwanted side effects.
One of the most common mistakes people make when taking medicine is to adjust the time of taking medicine at will, or feel that some drugs are not important, just take them when you think about them, and forget it if you can't remember them.
In fact, many drugs need to be taken continuously and regularly to really work. For example, if you don't take some antibiotics on time, the bacteria may not be completely eliminated, but will develop resistance, and the disease will become more complicated.
Second, different drugs, different time to pay attention to
Different medications do have different takes. Many people may think that the doctor prescribes medicine anyway, as long as they take it on time. But in fact, even if they are all prescribed by doctors, the effects of when they are taken can vary widely. If you choose a random time to take the medicine, it may not only reduce the effectiveness of the medicine, but may even affect your health.
The timing of taking different drugs is crucial for their effectiveness. The common types of drugs and the corresponding best time to take them are as follows:
1. Antihypertensive medications
For many people with high blood pressure, there is usually an upward trend in blood pressure after waking up in the morning. Studies have shown that taking antihypertensive drugs (such as valsartan, amlodipine) in the morning can more effectively control blood pressure fluctuations during this time and help reduce the risk of sudden cardiovascular events in the morning.
Some patients may need to take antihypertensive medication at night, usually for nighttime blood pressure control, so the best time to take the medication must be determined based on the doctor's recommendations.
2. Hypoglycemic drugs
Metformin is a commonly used medication for people with diabetes and is usually recommended to be taken with meals. The reason for this is that taking it with meals can reduce the irritation of the gastrointestinal tract from the medication and can also help to better control blood sugar after meals. If taken on an empty stomach, it may cause stomach upset or low blood sugar.
3. Antibiotics
For antibiotics, it is often necessary to take them on an empty stomach because food can affect the absorption of the drug and weaken the efficacy of the drug.
Amoxicillin, for example, is usually recommended to be taken before or between meals so that the drug can enter the bloodstream quickly. Some antibiotics, such as levofloxacin, are usually recommended to be taken after meals to reduce side effects because of their stomach irritation.
4. Stomach medicine
Drugs such as omeprazole and rabeprazole usually work best when taken 30 minutes before meals. Because their main role is to inhibit gastric acid secretion, helping to reduce the irritation of gastric acid to the stomach lining.
If taken after meals, it may reduce the effectiveness of the drug, especially for patients with high gastric acid secretion in the morning, and it is best to take it in the morning on an empty stomach.
5. Vitamins
Fat-soluble vitamins, such as vitamin D and vitamin E, are best taken with meals, especially with foods that contain fat, to aid in the absorption of the drug.
If taken on an empty stomach, the absorption efficiency may be greatly reduced. In addition, water-soluble vitamins such as vitamin C are less affected by meals and can be taken on an empty stomach.
3. How to arrange the time of taking drugs scientifically and reasonably
Scientifically and reasonably arranging the time of taking drugs is not as complicated as everyone thinks. Many people will be overwhelmed at the thought of taking medicine, should this medicine be taken before or after meals? What if I forget to eat? These questions may sound detailed, but with a few simple methods and principles, you can get your medication in order.
Start by knowing what medications you're taking. Each drug has its own special mechanism of action, and this mechanism directly determines the time it is taken.
Medication labels usually tell you exactly when to take them, and following these recommendations can greatly reduce the chance of error.
If the instructions say "take on an empty stomach", then don't be afraid to eat on an empty stomach and hurt your stomach, as long as it is not a specific drug that irritates the stomach, taking it on an empty stomach is actually for better absorption.
The meaning of fasting is not so complicated, it is about one hour before or two hours after a meal, and there is no food residue in the stomach during this time, so that the absorption efficiency of the drug is the highest.
Of course, if the drug says "take with meals", it means that the drug needs the help of food, such as reducing side effects or helping with absorption.
Taking it with a meal doesn't mean that you swallow the medicine after eating a whole meal, but it's best to take it during a meal, or shortly after a meal, to take advantage of the presence of food to enhance the effect.
Especially some drugs that are irritating to the stomach, eating with meals can greatly reduce discomfort. So, if you're used to taking your medicine long after eating, this may be a small misunderstanding.
Some people experience some common troubles when taking their medication, such as forgetting to take their medication on time. This is actually quite common, after all, it is impossible to remember everything all the time with a busy life.
There are many ways to solve this problem, and many people now use the alarm clock or reminder function on their mobile phones to regularly notify themselves of taking their medications.
You can also try to combine medicine with some daily activities, such as taking medicine after brushing your teeth in the morning, or taking medicine regularly before going to bed, so that taking medicine becomes a habit that is not easy to forget after a long time.
If you really forget it once, don't panic, depending on the nature of the drug, some drugs can be slightly made up, such as the next time to take the medicine slightly shortened, but don't take a few more tablets at once in order to make up for it.
This is a common misunderstanding, thinking that if you miss it, it should be no problem to make up for it. In fact, this practice is likely to cause you to overdose on the drug at one time, which will cause harm to the body. The best thing to do is to consult a doctor or read the instructions on the instructions carefully and deal with the situation accordingly.
Another factor that is often overlooked when scheduling medications is other medications. Many people need to take multiple medications at the same time, but not all of them can be taken at the same time.
Some drugs interact with each other, for example, one may affect the absorption or metabolism of the other.
So if you're taking multiple medications, try to separate them from each other, such as taking one medicine in the morning and the other in the evening, to avoid interacting with each other. Of course, doctors will usually give specific recommendations based on your condition, so don't adjust the time of taking your medication without permission.
IV. Conclusion
Scientifically and reasonably arranging the time of taking drugs is actually not a complicated "difficult operation". The key is to take responsibility for ourselves and learn to be "lazy" - with the help of small habits in life, mobile phone reminders, and even bundled with daily activities, the matter of taking medicine becomes as natural as brushing your teeth and washing your face. In the final analysis, medicine is our "secret weapon" to fight against illness, and since we have all the weapons in our hands, the real key is to use the right method.
So, don't let taking medicine at will become a "roadblock" on your health road, plan your medication time well, and maybe you can also develop healthier lifestyle habits by the way, which is simply a "health plan" that kills two birds with one stone!
bibliography
Ping An Campus,2018,(09):26-27.
[2] Huang Xuechao. Health Times,2006-10-16(019).