In most cases, the pills do not work immediately after they are taken, but are absorbed into the small intestine.
Some scientists want to know whether the different posture of taking the pill will affect the time of the pill’s effect. The new simulation found that due to the asymmetry of the stomach shape, taking the medicine on the right side can make the pill dissolve 2.3 times faster than standing.
No one should have thought about the effect of different body positions on pills absorption when taking the pills.
However, according to a new study by Johns Hopkins University, different postures when taking medicines actually have a great impact on the speed of the body’s absorption of pills. The wrong posture can even delay the decomposition and absorption of drugs by up to an hour.
The team developed a model called “StomachSim” that combines physics, biomechanics, and fluid mechanics to simulate the process of stomach digestion of food or drug dissolution.
In general, most pills do not work until they pass through the stomach and enter the intestines. The effect of the pills begins to appear as the pills begin to dissolve in the antrum near the stomach and pass through the pylorus and then into the duodenum for absorption.
The researchers believe that the body posture when taking the drug should be important when taking into account gravity and the asymmetric shape of the stomach.
After testing 4 postures, the team found that taking the medicine on the right side is the best. At this time, the pill is closest to the sinus after entering the body, and it only takes 10 minutes to completely dissolve on the right side. Lying on the left side is the worst position because the pill will land in the upper part of the stomach and will take more than 100 minutes to fully dissolve and reach the intestine. When standing, the pill will take 23 minutes to dissolve.
Eating pills in different positions will land on different parts of the stomach.
(Source:
Johns Hopkins University )
Obviously, for the elderly or those who are lying down for a long time, lying on the left or on the right will have a huge impact on the duration of the pill’s effect. The dissolution rate of the pill in the right side is 2.3 times faster than that in the upright position.
The researchers said that after swallowing quick-acting pills such as painkillers, you can’t stand up right away, and it is best to lie on your right side for about half an hour.
The study was also published in the journal Physics of Fluids.
