24/04/2025
Have you ever imagined what happens to medicines after you swallow them, or get injected?
Understanding this process can help you appreciate why following your prescription is so important.
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Medications enter your body in various ways like:
- swallowing a pill
- getting injections
- inhaling a spray, or
- applying a cream.
Each method determines how quickly and efficiently your medicine starts working.
Once inside your body, the medicine moves into your bloodstream.
The blood stream is the delivery system, spreading it throughout your body.
It makes sure the medicine reach the organs or tissues that need it the most, like the brain, heart, or muscles.
As the medicine travels, it attaches itself to specific chemicals in your body to carry and guide it to their targets.
For example, painkillers might target chemicals in the brain to reduce pain, while antibiotics attack bacteria to fight infections.
This is why you can swallow a pill with your mouth, and it will stop pain in your legs.
The liver is the body’s chemical processing plant.
Here, chemicals called enzymes break down the medicine into smaller, simpler compounds.
This process is called metabolism, and it’s important for transforming the medicine into a form that the body can more easily remove.
🔑 Why does this “metabolism” matter?
You see, metabolism does not just break down medicines, it also changes them.
Sometimes, the changed form is the one that’s active (prodrugs), helping to treat your condition.
Other times, the breakdown products are inactive and need to be removed quickly.
Medicines don’t stay in your body forever, they’ve got to go after their time elapsed.
The kidneys play a central role in removing medicines from the body.
They filter the blood, separating out waste products, including medicines and other harmful chemicals
Keeping your kidneys healthy is vital for effective drug elimination.
- liver can send some drugs into the bile, which goes to the intestines and leaves the body in your p**p.
Sweat, saliva, and even breast milk can also carry out traces of certain medicines.
🔑 Factors that affects medicines leaving your body
- Older adults and very young children often process drugs differently.
- The health of your liver and kidneys plays a major role.
- Some people naturally metabolize medicines faster or slower.
- Other medicines, alcohol, food, and even certain health conditions can speed up or slow down elimination.
Medicines that enters the body needs to leave when their work is done. This is crucial to prevent them from building up in your body, which could lead to harmful side effects.
It is important to follow your prescription exactly as your doctor or pharmacist advises. Because we know better …
The journey of a medicine through your body is complex, but well-coordinated.
Each step ensures that the medicine helps you get better and is then safely removed.
