Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Reaction with stomach acids?

cobrasniper555 - 22-7-2008 at 18:43

I've been wondering for a while about the events that happen when an individual ingests a pill or some form of medicine. Is the medicine, the result of what you ingest and stomach acids reacting or the actual medicine run through and put into the blood or whatever its purpose?

It's just a question that's been in my head for a while and I'm not a doctor nor plan to be one.

Thanks!

12AX7 - 22-7-2008 at 21:06

One way or another, the medicine is absorbed, either in the stomach or intestine. Chemicals like water and ethanol are readily absorbed by the stomach. Many medicines are alkaloids, which react with acid, forming a water-soluble salt. Many may be supplied in this form, since it's nonvolatile. In this case, there will be no reaction with stomach acid. Both forms may be absorbed, the salt because it's water soluble, or the free base because it's lipophilic (the intestine, thanks to bile salts, is excellent at absorbing fatty substances, like fat).

For the most part, most medicines are absorbed from the gut, more or less unchanged. So, what happens when someone ingests a pill is, very little in most cases.

Your question is so general I can't really answer much better.

Tim

cobrasniper555 - 26-7-2008 at 20:25

12AX7, that helped! Haha, your answer can't any more clear! ;)