The ACPN president explained, “The essence of using water to swallow drugs is to ease transportation to the stomach, where they will dissolve; and then to the small intestine where the absorption takes place.

“The pH of the stomach is acidic, so, there are certain types of drugs, such as spectrin, that require plenty of water when taking them. If you swallow drugs, particularly capsules, without water, you run the risk of the drug sticking on the throat and it can cause choking.

“Apart from water aiding transportation of drugs to the stomach, failure to use water to swallow drugs affects their dissolution in the stomach and this can create another health issue.”

Continuing, Adekola said, “Also, chewing tablets without water has its own implications, though we do have chewable tablets.

“Now, when you chew without water, the drug will just disintegrate, rather than dissolving. So, it has to still be transported to the stomach with water where the proper dissolution will take place. The dissolution of the drug will be hampered if not taken with water.”

He warned that if the drug is not dissolved, it cannot be absorbed, saying, “Drugs depend on water for dissolution.”

The pharmacist said that after chewing the drugs, some quantity, however small, will be left in the mouth, and at the end of the day, you are not going to have a total composition of the drug delivered to the stomach.

“It is only the quantity that the saliva is able to push to the stomach that will be available for absorption. This can affect the efficacy of drugs and the patient may not get the full concentration,” he warned.

Adekola said that naturally, every drug has a percentage that should get into the system for it to be effective. “If drugs are stuck in the mouth after chewing, some percentage of the drugs will not get to the stomach where they are supposed to be absorbed,” he enthused.

Experts say for a number of reasons, some tablets shouldn’t be crushed or chewed, as, doing so may result in dose dumping — that is, when the body very quickly absorbs a large amount of a drug.

One consequence of dose dumping is an overdose of the drug, which can lead to death, according to experts.

Adekola said that the risks of chewing drugs are more prominent with certain enteric-coated drugs that usually cause problems when they get to the stomach.

“If they get to the stomach, they have the tendency of creating problems like ulcers. Such drugs include aspirin.

“Sometimes, one of the ways that they are being formulated is to make them enterically coated. What that means is that they are protected and shielded from stomach acid. So, they are allowed to only get disintegrate after they leave the stomach.

“When you swallow them, they will not dissolve in the stomach compartments; rather, they will be transported down to the small intestine before the dissolution takes place. That way, you will overcome the side effects of induction of ulcers.

“Now, if you chew them despite the fact that they are bitter, you are aiding their disintegration and dissolution, thereby increasing the chances and degree of their side effects,” he said.

Adekola advised patients to be rational about drug use and to always take drugs according to prescription and instruction by healthcare professionals.

Source: Punch