Bad habit 1: taking medication with the “meal” Many people simply understand “before meals” as “before eating a meal”, eat snacks, fruit, etc. are not counted. In fact, as long as there is food in the stomach, even if it is after the meal. Experts say that it is stated that it is taken before meals (or on an empty stomach) because food can affect the absorption of drugs. Note that taken after meals or at meals, mostly because such drugs have irritation to the digestive tract, food may reduce this discomfort, or the lipids contained therein can facilitate the absorption of drugs. Generally, before meals means 0.5 to 1 hour before meals, and fasting means 2 to 4 hours after meals. The frequency of taking medicine is mostly once a day to three times a day, and people often interpret “three times a day” as simply following three meals. In fact, how many times a day and how often to take medication is formulated by pharmacologists according to the law of changes in the concentration of drugs in the blood within 24 hours. Experts point out that if the number of doses is “three times a day”, it should be taken every 8 hours; if it is twice a day, it should be taken every 12 hours. Considering the resting habits of most people, three times a day can be scheduled at 7:00 am, 2:00-3:00 pm and 10:00 pm. Twice a day should be scheduled at 7:00 am and 7:00 pm. Bad Habit 2: Pills break and eat Some people find it difficult to swallow large pills, they take it upon themselves to break the medicine or dissolve it in water before taking it. In fact, seemingly identical pills play a big difference in the time and part of the drug effect. If a pill has a slow-release, controlled-release, enteric, etc. label, it must be taken in its entirety, not broken. Experts explained that some long-acting controlled-release drugs, the active ingredients will be slowly released in the gastrointestinal tract, which will make the concentration of drugs in the body more stable, the drug effect is also more durable. If you break the pill to eat, it will destroy the original drug design, accelerate the release of drugs, so that the blood concentration in a short period of time rose too high, prone to danger, but also to shorten the duration of action of the drug, affecting the effectiveness of the treatment. The best way to determine whether a pill can be broken and taken is to read the drug instructions. Another thing is to check whether there are indentations on the tablets. Tablets that can be broken open are generally printed with indentations to facilitate accurate separation. Bad Habit 3: Delivering medicine with juice “Children are afraid of taking medicine and find it bitter. Therefore, I like to use fruit juice, milk to send him medicine, can offset the bitter taste, but also can supplement nutrition and water, can be a multi-benefit.” Many parents say so. Unbeknownst to me, juice, milk, soy milk, tea, etc., although they are liquid, but may interact with the drug, affecting the efficacy. Experts stressed that it is best to take drugs with warm water to ensure the efficacy and safety of medication. Bad habits 4: do not pay attention to “taboo” oil, salt, soy, vinegar, sugar and other common seasonings in life, can also affect the role of drugs. Iron supplementation, to eat less oil, do not eat fried foods, pastries, etc., because the oil will inhibit the secretion of gastric acid, reducing the absorption of iron in the gastrointestinal tract. When taking antihypertensive drugs, anti-angina drugs, avoid eating food containing a lot of salt. Bitter stomachic medicine, digestive drugs, and sweet food “offensive”. Vinegar is an acidic seasoning, so it is most contraindicated to be taken with alkaline drugs, such as Daxil and other anti-gastric acid drugs. Soy sauce is rich in metal ions, which can easily combine with antibiotics such as tetracycline to form a combination that is not easily absorbed by the stomach and intestines. Do not drink alcohol when taking most drugs, and the same goes for flavored wine. Wine will cause vasodilation, and blood pressure drugs such as blood pressure with the same, easy to cause hypotension, serious will endanger the lives of patients. Bad habits 5: lazy lying down to eat Many people also have the habit of lying down to eat drugs. This posture is likely to make part of the drug stay in the esophagus dissolved or adhered to the esophageal wall, not only affect the absorption of drugs, but also stimulate the esophagus, causing inflammation of the esophagus, and even ulcers. Pharmacists in the clinic through X-ray observation, found that lying down to take drugs because most people only drink a sip of water to deliver drugs, so 60% of the drugs do not reach the stomach, but adhere to the esophageal wall. However, when the medicine is taken standing up and 60ml-100ml of water is used to deliver the medicine, the medicine can reach the stomach in about 5 seconds. Of course, not all drugs have to be taken standing up. For example, if a patient takes nitroglycerin as an emergency medication to relieve angina, he or she may faint due to postural hypotension and temporary anemia. The correct position for taking medication should be in a sitting position.