Tag: Medicine safety

According to research published by the Oklahoma State University Extension, food can affect how fast and how much of a drug is absorbed into the body in up to 40% of orally administered medications. This critical instruction, often printed on a prescription label, dictates not just *if* you take your medicine but *when*, relative to eating, and *how* it interacts with your body's processes.

According to the National Institutes of Health, many antibiotics are usually taken with water because taking them together with fruit juices, dairy products, or alcohol can affect how the body absorbs them. Understanding what food interacts with antibiotics is crucial for maximizing the medication's effectiveness and preventing adverse side effects.

According to a campaign by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, accidental medication ingestion sends approximately 60,000 children to the emergency room each year. This alarming statistic provides a serious backdrop for the seemingly simple query: **Why do Smarties look like medicine?** The resemblance is no accident of chance but a result of historical manufacturing practices that underscore a significant public health risk known as 'candy confusion'.

According to a 2018 review, some cough drop use was significantly associated with a longer cough duration, suggesting they aren't always a benign remedy. This raises an important question: can cough drops be a snack, or are they a medical treatment that should be used with caution?