How much eye drops should be used? How to prevent heart attack? How much water is appropriate for taking medicine... How to use medicine safely, read the detailed explanation →

Editor: Sunny Morning

For patients, taking medicine is essential. Some people even have to take several kinds of medicine every day. How should you take so many medicines? Is it better to swallow them directly or chew them before taking? What medicine should you take in an emergency... How to use medicines rationally is a health issue that cannot be ignored!

On November 13, at the launch ceremony of the 2023 "National Safe Medication Use Month", the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association released the " Top Ten Medication Use Tips for the Public in 2023 ". Wang Aiguo, Vice President and Secretary General of the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association, said that the "Top Ten Medication Use Tips for the Public in 2023" were compiled by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association from pharmaceutical experts to collect knowledge points on safe medication use, combined with clinical experience and public concerns , and are as follows:

"Cough" is urgent, so deal with it skillfully and choose the right expectorant; what to do about autumn diarrhea, timely intervention to maintain health; myocardial infarction happens tragically, scientific prevention is the key; hypertension cannot be ignored, and medication should be used rationally and not indiscriminately; statins are commonly used for lipid-lowering, and four major precautions must be kept in mind; children commonly use oral medications, and you must know the different uses; eye drops do not need to be too much, 1-2 drops are a therapeutic dose; drug treatment has a course of treatment, and frequent medication changes can affect the efficacy; there are different types of medicines, and some are more effective when chewed; be careful when taking medicine with water, and there are rules for how much to drink.

Interpretation of the top ten medication tips for the public in 2023

"Cough" cannot be delayed, deal with it cleverly, choose the right expectorant

Coughing is one of the most common symptoms of the respiratory system. It is a defensive reflex action caused by irritation of the respiratory mucosa. Coughing can clear respiratory secretions and foreign bodies from the airways. In pathological conditions such as respiratory inflammation, increased respiratory secretions can aggravate coughing, and large amounts of sputum can block the respiratory tract and cause breathing difficulties, allowing pathogens to breed and easily cause infection. When coughing cannot successfully expel sputum, you can consider using expectorants for symptomatic treatment.

Common expectorants include:

Nausea-inducing expectorants . Representative drugs: ammonium chloride, guaifenesin, often used in combination with other antitussive and expectorant drugs, such as compound licorice oral solution, brown ammonium mixture, etc. After taking, it stimulates the gastric mucosa and causes mild nausea, reflexively causes increased secretion of tracheal and bronchial glands, making sputum thinner and easier to cough up. This type of drug causes more adverse reactions when the dose is too large, such as vomiting, abdominal distension, palpitations, etc., especially patients with liver and kidney dysfunction should be more cautious when using it.

Stimulating expectorants . Representative drugs: eucalyptus oil, guaiacol, benzoin tincture, turpentine, etc. This type of drug is mainly some volatile substances, which have a mild irritating effect on the respiratory mucosa, can cause mild congestion of the mucosa, accelerate local blood circulation, and moisten the respiratory tract. Through the above effects, the viscosity of sputum is reduced and it is easy to cough up. At the same time, this type of drug also has a certain disinfection and antiseptic effect, which can inhibit the growth of respiratory bacteria.

Mucolytic drugs . Representative drugs: bromhexine, acetylcysteine, ambroxol, standard myrtle oil, carbocysteine, etc. This type of drug can decompose the mucopolysaccharide fibers in sputum, or inhibit the synthesis of acidic glycoproteins, while decomposing mucins, thereby reducing the viscosity of sputum and making it easier to cough up. Strongly acidic drugs can significantly reduce the effect of acetylcysteine, so they should be avoided in combination.

Patients should seek medical attention promptly to identify the cause of increased sputum and choose an appropriate treatment plan under the guidance of a doctor and pharmacist. It should be noted that expectorants are only one aspect of the treatment of respiratory diseases such as pneumonia and bronchitis. In many cases, they need to be combined with a variety of other drugs for comprehensive treatment. Therefore, when using expectorants, attention should also be paid to the issue of combined medication. When using expectorants, care should be taken to avoid the use of strong antitussives at the same time, because expectorants promote sputum discharge by dissolving and diluting sticky sputum and enhancing ciliary movement. At this time, the combined use of strong antitussives will make it impossible to cough up sputum and fail to achieve the purpose of expectoration. Only those with severe coughs need antitussives to control it.

What to do with autumn diarrhea? Timely intervention to maintain health

Autumn diarrhea is most common from October to December. It is usually an acute intestinal infectious disease caused by rotavirus infection, and the main transmission route is fecal-oral transmission. The main symptoms are vomiting, increased frequency of stool, egg drop soup-like or watery stools, and may be accompanied by fever, nausea and abdominal pain. If effective intervention and treatment are not carried out in time, it may cause dehydration and electrolyte imbalance, leading to serious consequences such as death.

It is most important to prevent and reduce the occurrence of intestinal infectious diseases, develop good personal hygiene habits, and keep the "disease from the mouth" barrier. If diarrhea symptoms occur, you should choose treatment drugs based on your own situation.

1. Oral rehydration salts : Severe diarrhea often leads to a large loss of water and electrolytes, causing dehydration. The first principle of diarrhea treatment is to prevent and treat dehydration. Oral rehydration salts are an economical, simple and effective treatment method. Oral rehydration salts III can be used for children with diarrhea.

When using rehydration salts III, dissolve a complete bag of rehydration salts with 250 ml of warm water. The amount of water must be accurate, otherwise the solution will be too dilute or too concentrated, affecting the osmotic pressure and thus the efficacy of the drug. Do not dissolve a bag in several batches. If it cannot be accurately divided, it will affect the osmotic pressure and electrolyte concentration. You can heat it in water after it cools down, but do not add hot water directly. Do not add sugar, milk, juice, etc. to avoid affecting the effect. When feeding children with oral rehydration salts III, follow the principle of small amounts and multiple times. If the child vomits, stop for 10 minutes and then feed slowly.

2. Microecological preparations (live bacteria preparations) : Virus invasion can cause an imbalance in intestinal flora. Appropriate supplementation of probiotics is beneficial to maintaining normal intestinal peristalsis, promoting intestinal function to restore normal ecological environment and physiological function, and relieving diarrhea symptoms. Probiotics should be taken after meals, and live bacteria preparations can be taken with warm water, but the temperature should not be higher than 40°C. Most probiotics have temperature requirements for storage, and must be stored according to the instructions.

3. Antidiarrheal agents : Commonly used ones include montmorillonite powder, which has a strong fixation and adsorption effect and the ability to protect the digestive tract mucosa. This type of drug itself is not absorbed, but can adsorb toxins and excrete them from the body after taking it. Food and water should be avoided within 2 hours after taking the drug to avoid adsorption and adhesion of montmorillonite powder to food, which will affect the coverage of the drug on the diseased area. It is recommended to take it at an interval of more than 2 hours when used in combination with general drugs. When using antibacterial drugs or microecological preparations in combination, it is recommended to take antibacterial drugs first, then montmorillonite powder, and microecological preparations should be used last. The three should be taken 1-2 hours apart.

Myocardial infarction tragedy occurs, scientific prevention is the key

Cardiovascular disease has always been the number one killer of national health, and the mortality rate of acute myocardial infarction ranks first among cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Once a myocardial infarction occurs, it enters the "countdown mode", and the treatment of myocardial infarction is a "race against time".

There are many factors that affect cardiovascular health, a large part of which is related to lifestyle. Therefore, if you want to stay away from cardiovascular diseases, you should pay attention to the following in your life:

1. Develop a healthy lifestyle : don't smoke, increase physical exercise appropriately, improve sleep, eat properly, maintain a healthy weight, and stay relaxed. These are crucial for both preventing myocardial infarction and recovering after a myocardial infarction, and they cannot be replaced by any medicine or treatment.

2. Regular physical examination : It is extremely important to have a physical examination every year to understand your physical condition, especially for middle-aged and elderly people. In addition to routine examinations, you can add a carotid artery ultrasound examination. The non-invasive ultrasound can determine the progress of atherosclerosis. If carotid artery plaques are found and there are multiple risk factors (such as smoking, high blood pressure, high blood lipids and high blood sugar), statin treatment can be carried out under the guidance of a doctor.

3. Drug prevention : For high-risk groups, especially those who have had myocardial infarction, secondary prevention should be actively carried out. Under the guidance of doctors and pharmacists, they need to choose to take drugs to prevent myocardial infarction and improve prognosis. Such as antiplatelet drugs, lipid-lowering drugs, beta-blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI)/angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARB), etc., do not stop taking the drugs at will.

Don't ignore high blood pressure, use medication rationally and don't mess around

Hypertension is a relatively common disease. Treatment of hypertension should follow the treatment plan of a cardiovascular physician. Only targeted treatment can achieve twice the result with half the effort.

There are five main types of antihypertensive drugs used clinically:

Calcium channel blockers are widely used, with representative drugs such as nifedipine, felodipine, and amlodipine besylate being more suitable for patients with hypertension and arteriosclerosis. This type of drug is safe and long-lasting in lowering blood pressure, but may cause problems such as facial flushing and ankle edema.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) , represented by captopril, enalapril, benazepril, etc., are more suitable for patients with hypertension accompanied by proteinuria or diabetes, and heart morphological changes. They have a significant antihypertensive effect and help improve heart function, but some patients will have adverse reactions such as dry cough after taking them.

Angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARB) , representative drugs include losartan, valsartan, irbesartan, telmisartan, etc. This type of drug is suitable for people with hypertension and diabetes, or hypertension and proteinuria.

Beta-receptor blockers , representative drugs include propranolol, metoprolol, atenolol, etc., which are mainly used for hypertension with mainly high diastolic blood pressure. They have better effects on hypertension dominated by anxiety and mental factors. They are suitable for patients with hypertension accompanied by tachycardia, or accompanied by angina pectoris and myocardial ischemia.

Diuretics mainly achieve the purpose of lowering blood pressure by reducing blood volume. Representative drugs include hydrochlorothiazide, indapamide, etc. They are suitable for combination with other types of antihypertensive drugs.

The use of antihypertensive drugs should also follow the following principles : follow the doctor's orders, start with a small dose, give priority to long-acting preparations, which can maintain long-term stability of blood pressure; combination therapy, a small-dose combination of multiple drugs is better than a large-dose single drug; individualized medication, taking into account both the patient's tolerance and the effectiveness of the drug.

Statins are commonly used to lower blood lipids. Four major precautions should be kept in mind

Statins are the most classic and effective lipid-lowering drugs and have been widely used in people with hyperlipidemia. You should pay attention to a light diet, a low-fat, low-salt balanced diet, pay attention to reducing cholesterol intake, ensure adequate sleep, and exercise appropriately. In addition, when using statins, you should pay attention to:

1. Pay attention to the time of taking medicine . The synthesis of cholesterol has a circadian rhythm, and the synthesis is the largest at night, so most statins are recommended to be taken before going to bed, but atorvastatin and rosuvastatin have a longer-lasting effect, so you can take the medicine at a fixed time every day. Take the medicine according to the doctor's instructions. If you miss a dose, take it as soon as you remember. It is also possible that you need to take twice the dose by the next time you take the medicine.

2. Take the medicine for a long time . Lipid lowering is a long process. For most patients, even if blood lipids have returned to normal, they still need to continue taking statins. However, they need to regularly monitor blood lipids, transaminases, creatine kinase, etc., and adjust the drug treatment plan.

3. Beware of adverse reactions . Most patients tolerate statins well, and side effects are usually mild and short-lived, so there is generally no need to stop taking the medication. However, if you experience adverse reactions such as muscle soreness or weakness, muscle cramps, or darker urine, you must stop taking the medication immediately and seek medical attention in a timely manner. Do relevant examinations under the doctor's advice and take appropriate adjustment measures based on the situation.

4. Pay attention to interactions . Statins interact with many drugs, which can reduce the therapeutic effect or increase adverse reactions. When using other drugs in combination, be sure to consult a doctor or pharmacist. In addition, do not consume grapefruit or grapefruit juice while taking the drug, as it will increase damage to the liver and muscles.

Common oral medications for children, different usages should be known

There are some differences between medication for children and medication for adults, and the dosage form usually takes into account the characteristics of children. Currently, the commonly used oral dosage forms for children include dry suspensions, granules, oral liquid preparations, tablets and capsules. Among them, oral liquid preparations include solutions, syrups, suspensions, etc., and tablets include chewable tablets, sustained-release tablets, effervescent tablets, dispersible tablets, etc.

When choosing medication, pay attention to choosing medicines suitable for children, and comprehensively consider the drug effect and children's acceptance. Generally speaking, children under 3 years old have poor swallowing ability and should not directly swallow solid medicines such as tablets and capsules. You can choose medicines in granular or liquid dosage forms. For older children, you can choose tablets or chewable tablets, which are more convenient. Different oral drug dosage forms have different uses.

Granules and dry suspension : Stir and dissolve with appropriate amount of warm water before taking.

Oral liquid preparations : Use a measuring cup or pour accurately according to the scale on the bottle. Do not take orally with your mouth directly touching the bottle.

Suspensions, syrups and other liquid preparations : The liquid medicine must be measured accurately and shaken thoroughly before taking.

Effervescent tablets : Do not swallow directly, because effervescent tablets contain ingredients that can produce carbon dioxide. If you take the medicine directly, it will instantly produce a large amount of carbon dioxide gas when it comes into contact with water in the mouth, which may cause suffocation due to lack of oxygen. Therefore, before taking the medicine, you need to add an appropriate amount of warm water to completely dissolve the tablets, and then take it orally after all the bubbles disappear.

Chewable tablets : Do not need to drink water when taking, just chew or suck in the mouth to dissolve and then swallow.

Dispersible tablets : If your child is too young to swallow tablets, most dispersible tablets can be dissolved in water and then fed. If the drug is insoluble, it is recommended to switch to a more suitable dosage form.

You don’t need to use too much eye drops, 1-2 drops is enough for treatment

Eye drops are one of the commonly used drug dosage forms for ophthalmic diseases. For many ophthalmic diseases, eye drops have a direct and quick therapeutic effect. Be sure to wash your hands thoroughly before applying eye drops, and try to avoid direct contact with your eyes to avoid eye infection. When applying eye drops, use your index finger to pull down the lower eyelid and separate it from the eyeball, and apply the eye drops in the conjunctival fornix. Just drop one or two drops.

The maximum liquid capacity of the conjunctival fornix of a normal person is 20-30 microliters, of which the normal tear volume is about 7-10 microliters. The conjunctival fornix can only hold a maximum of 20 microliters of liquid. The eye drops on the market have different packaging and opening sizes, resulting in different sizes of drops. The average volume of each drop is about 40 microliters, which exceeds the capacity of the conjunctival sac. Therefore, when the eye drops are instilled, about half of the liquid overflows from the conjunctival fornix and flows out of the eye. This is a normal phenomenon.

One drop of eye drops has reached the therapeutic dose, and there is no need to increase the dosage. Adding a few more drops will not bring more absorption. In addition to waste, it may also increase the risk of adverse reactions. For example, certain drugs such as atropine sulfate eye gel, pilocarpine nitrate eye drops, etc., if the dosage is increased, overflow into the eye, and absorption through the nasal cavity or mouth may cause serious systemic adverse reactions. After applying eye drops, it is recommended to gently press the nasolacrimal duct at the inner corner of the eye with your fingers for at least 2 minutes to slow down the drainage of the drug into the nose, thereby increasing efficacy and reducing adverse reactions.

Drug treatment has a course of treatment, and frequent changes of medication will affect the efficacy

Many people have high expectations for the effects of drug treatment, and always hope that the symptoms of the disease will be significantly improved after taking the medicine. If the effect does not improve after taking it once or twice, they think that the drug is ineffective and immediately change to another drug, especially some over-the-counter drugs, such as cold medicine, antipyretic and analgesic drugs, etc. However, frequent changes of medicines not only cannot bring benefits to the treatment of diseases, but may also bring some negative effects, such as increasing adverse drug reactions and bacterial resistance. Therefore, we should have a correct understanding of changing medicines.

The effect of a drug depends not only on the drug itself, but also on the body's response to the drug. For example, oral drugs need to be absorbed and distributed before they can reach the corresponding parts. Therefore, it takes a certain amount of time for the concentration of the drug in the blood to increase. Even if the effective concentration is reached, the drug needs time to exert its pharmacological effect, and it is usually not effective immediately. Frequent changes of medication may lead to insufficient drug concentration and affect the therapeutic effect. Different drugs have different onset times. For example, some antidepressants even take about 2 weeks to take effect. If you change the medication frequently and impatiently, it will lead to worsening of depression symptoms. For infectious diseases treated with antibiotics, frequent and random use of antibiotics without indications can easily induce bacterial resistance, making the efficacy of antibiotics that may have been effective reduced or even ineffective. Therefore, it is generally necessary to conduct a clinical effect evaluation after a period of medication, and replace it when there is an indication for replacement.

If the drug effect is not obvious when starting to use a drug for treatment, you need to consider whether the dosage and duration of medication are insufficient. You should adjust the dosage according to the doctor's advice and should not change the medicine frequently. You should decide whether to change the medicine according to the progress of the disease and under the guidance of the doctor or pharmacist.

There are different types of medicines, and some are more effective when chewed

When taking oral medications, most of them are swallowed whole and should not be chewed before taking. For example, some drugs are made into sustained-release tablets or controlled-release tablets. The structure of the tablets can ensure that the tablets are decomposed and absorbed in a controlled manner when they reach the gastrointestinal tract. If they are chewed before taking, slow administration will become rapid absorption, and a large amount of drug absorption in a short period of time will bring more medication risks. There are also some enteric-coated tablets that are more fully absorbed in the intestines or have a certain irritation to the stomach. If this type of dosage form of drugs is chewed and taken, it may affect the absorption efficiency or irritate the gastric mucosa.

However, some medicines are special and need to be chewed before taking. If swallowed directly, they may not achieve the desired therapeutic effect.

Generally speaking, it is recommended that drugs with the word "chewable tablets" in their names be chewed thoroughly before taking. For example, yeast tablets and lactobacillus tablets are not easy to dissolve in the digestive tract after swallowing the whole tablet, and form sticky lumps in the stomach, affecting the effect of the drug. Chewing it before taking it helps to accelerate the release of the drug, thereby accelerating the dissolution and absorption of the drug in the digestive tract to fully exert its efficacy.

Among the drugs for the digestive system, some antacids, gastric mucosal protective drugs and digestive aids need to be chewed before taking. For example, compound aluminum hydroxide and aluminum carbonate magnesium are suitable for chewing and taking half an hour before meals. After being chewed, they will disperse into tiny particles, increase the contact range between the drug and the lesion, cover the gastrointestinal mucosa, and form a protective film, thereby reducing the stimulation of gastric contents and gastric acid on gastric wall ulcers, and promoting the healing of ulcers as soon as possible.

When using cardiovascular medications in emergency situations, such as when angina pectoris occurs, you can chew nitroglycerin and hold it sublingually to facilitate the dissolution of the drug, accelerate the absorption of the drug, and quickly relieve angina pectoris.

In addition, calcium preparations such as calcium carbonate and calcium gluconate have a heavier texture and disintegrate slowly. Taking them after chewing them not only facilitates the absorption of calcium ions, but also reduces the burden on the gastrointestinal tract.

When taking medicine, we need to read the instructions carefully and take the medicine as directed by the doctor.

Be careful when drinking water while taking medicine. Drinking more or less is important.

When we take medicine, we usually take it with water. In fact, there are some rules for how much water you should drink when taking medicine. Each medicine has its own "optimal amount of water". Only by drinking the right amount of water can the efficacy of the medicine be guaranteed. You should take medicine under the guidance of a doctor or pharmacist, and be sure to read the instructions carefully before taking the medicine.

You should drink plenty of water when taking the following medicines:

Antibacterial drugs : The metabolites of sulfonamides and quinolone antibiotics such as levofloxacin and moxifloxacin have low solubility in urine and easily form crystals in the urinary system, which may cause urinary stones. Drinking more water can prevent this.

Anti-gout drugs : Since they promote the excretion of uric acid, you should also drink more water to prevent uric acid from forming crystals in the body and being unable to be excreted.

Antipyretic and analgesic drugs : Antipyretic and analgesic drugs commonly used for colds and fevers, such as ibuprofen, will cause people to sweat profusely after taking the drugs, which may lead to water and electrolyte imbalance. At this time, it is very important to replenish water to help prevent dehydration.

Bisphosphonate drugs : Alendenate sodium, which is used to treat osteoporosis, has the side effect of irritating the upper gastrointestinal mucosa. It is recommended to take them with a full glass of water.

Some drugs work in special ways, so you should drink less water when taking them:

Gastric mucosal protective agents : such as sucralfate, aluminum hydroxide, etc., achieve the therapeutic effect by forming a protective film on the surface of the gastric mucosa. Drinking a lot of water will affect the efficacy of the drug. Try not to drink water within 1 hour after taking the medicine.

Some antidiarrheal drugs : such as montmorillonite powder. This type of drug also achieves its therapeutic effect by covering the gastrointestinal mucosa, and you should also drink less water.

Syrup cough medicine : These medicines work by sticking to the throat, so that the medicine can fully exert its therapeutic effect. It is recommended not to drink water within 15 minutes after taking it to avoid washing away the medicine adhering to the throat.

Of course, the safest way to use medicine is to go to the hospital for consultation and strictly follow the doctor's advice . If something unexpected happens and we have to go to the pharmacy to buy medicine, we must consult the pharmacist. So how should we communicate effectively with the pharmacist and buy the right medicine?

Ye Zhen, deputy secretary general of the China Pharmaceutical Commerce Association, said that when you go to a pharmacy to buy medicine, if you are not sure what medicine you want to buy or have any questions about taking the medicine, you must consult a pharmacist. Pharmacists often ask you questions, such as: Who is taking this medicine? Have you taken it before? What other medicines are you taking? When the pharmacist asks these questions, you must answer them seriously and truthfully. The pharmacist asks these questions to better recommend medicines and avoid problems such as medication errors, adverse reactions or incompatibility.

When the pharmacist is serving the customers, some customers are reluctant to cooperate. When the pharmacist asks "Are you taking it yourself?" or "Are you taking any other medicine?", some people are often reluctant to answer, thinking that buying medicine by themselves does not need to be so complicated. In fact, the pharmacist asks these questions to ensure that the medicine is safer . If the medicine you buy is not for your own use but for your family, and you do not explain the situation clearly, the pharmacist may recommend the wrong medicine or it may interact with the medicine you are taking, which is harmful to your body. For the safety of medication, you should try to communicate more with the pharmacist.