-
Asked by lasagnegirl12 to David, Helen, Ian, rhysphillips on 23 Jun 2011.
-
David Corne answered on 22 Jun 2011:
The pill goes through the stomach, and eventually into the small intestine – by then much of it has probably been dissolved and all that’s left are the active chemicals that are supposed to do the job, whatever that may be. In the small intestine, there are special bits where the wall of the intestine is full of tiny blood vessels that link up with your bloodstream. This is how the active chemicals get absorbed into the bloodstream. Then, the heart pumps it around the body. What happens then depends on what the pill is supposed to do. If it’s a vitamin C pill, more vitamin C gets delivered everywhere, and any bits of you that weren’t working properly for lack of vitamin C, now they get a boost. If it was a headache pill, then it contains a chemical or two that is designed to dampen down pain signals, so when it gets into your head it acts on your neurons (perhaps) possibly by clogging up certain bits so that pain signals can’t be delivered.
-
-
Rhys Phillips answered on 22 Jun 2011:
They release chemicals into your blood which then have the known effect. Of course sometimes there are side effects which you may not be ready for.
-
Ian van der Linde answered on 22 Jun 2011:
That depends on the pill, but they are all digested in the gut to release whatever active compound(s) they contain. Some pills contain very cleverly designed molecules that can target a specific area of the body (i.e., they know where to go), whilst others float about and help in a more scattershot sort of way. Some contains special coatings that are digested slowly so that he active compounds are released over a period of time.
-
Helen Fletcher answered on 23 Jun 2011:
Depends on the kind of pills, generally they are dissolved in the stomach and diffuse into your blood stream where they ciculate until they encounter a specific receptor and induce whatever their desired or sometimes undesired effect may be.
Having said that you have to make sure you swallow them properly, I had a friend who took an antibiotic capsule, but it got stuck in her throat. About 30 mins later she burped and a load of antibiotic powder came flying out of her mouth.
Comments