# Why do we swallow medication? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 9, 2003, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-swallow-medication/147495 "2003-01-09T12:33:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-swallow-medication/147495/21 "2003-01-09T15:39:19Z")
How’d you like to be a waiter in that restaurant? ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-swallow-medication/147495/22 "2003-01-09T15:55:42Z")
Or the bus boy! ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-swallow-medication/147495/23 "2003-01-09T16:04:49Z")
_“Excellent choice, Asshole.”_ ---
**Author:** ![beajerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@beajerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beajerry)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-swallow-medication/147495/24 "2003-01-09T17:51:50Z")
The main answer is that the stomach is the safest route to take anything, because it is designed to breakdown and absorb materials. Some medications cannot go this route because they are rendered ineffective, like insulin as was mentioned. Others include blood thinners like lovenox and heparin, some hormonal therapies, cancer drugs, etc. Obviously, when you go to a hospital your condition is serious enough to warrant IV therapy. Some people in the hospital are given suppositories like tylenol for fever or something for nausea when they cannot swallow anything for whatever reason. ---
**Author:** ![Knighted\_Vorpal\_Sword](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ac91a4/32.png) [@Knighted\_Vorpal\_Sword](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knighted_Vorpal_Sword)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-swallow-medication/147495/25 "2003-01-09T18:34:57Z")
[Best Allan Sherman voice ON:] “Every time you take vaccine, take it orally. As you know the other way, is more painfully.” [/Best Allan Sherman voice] 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chanticleer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/65b543/32.png) [@Chanticleer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanticleer)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-swallow-medication/147495/26 "2003-01-09T21:06:42Z")
Swallowing it is easier than having a hole drilled in your stomach and then having it stuffed in. Many medications need to be absorbed early in the GI tract. That means they have to start in the stomach. Swallowing it is the easiest way and certainly preferable to any other way I can think of to get it in there.🆒 ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-swallow-medication/147495/27 "2003-01-09T21:40:46Z")
Do suppositories come in hollowpoints? ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-swallow-medication/147495/28 "2003-01-09T23:26:09Z")
Many drugs are acidic anyways. Ever notice how they are all somesort of drug-HCl? The stomach secretes hydrochloric acid, and the medications are already acidified with HCl, so there isn’t much more breaking down it can do. If the compound were to decompose in HCl, then it usually couldn’t be packaged and sold, and would likely never even make it past feasability stages in the development of the drug in tablet or capsure form - it would have to be somesort of injection or have some other form of delivery. ---
**Author:** ![Goofus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7feea3/32.png) [@Goofus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Goofus)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-swallow-medication/147495/29 "2003-01-10T05:15:54Z")
For once, I’m glad I kept an old college textbook. > [@](#): > > _(I’m paraphrasing a bit here, for brevity)_ > > The principal site of drug metabolism is the liver, along with the kidneys, lungs, and gastrointestinal tract. When a drug is taken orally, it is absorbed through the stomach or small intestine. It is then carried through the bloodstream to the liver where it is usually first metabolized. Drug metabolism by liver enzymes (“the first-pass effect”) can completely deactivate a drug. Larger or multiple doses may be required to get the desired effect. Note: The metabolites of a drug may be toxic, even though the drug is not. > > The first-pass effect can be avoided by using other means. The sublingual (under the tongue) and rectal (suppository or enema :eek: ) routes bypass the liver and go directly to the bloodstream. Drugs are sometimes injected intravenously for a fast response, or intramuscularly for a slow response. Inhaled drugs work through pulmonary absorption in the lungs. Source: _The Organic Chemistry of Drug Design and Drug Action_, Richard Silverman, pp.278-9. A neat trick of the trade is to have a pill made of inactive compounds. Then, after it’s metabolized in the liver, the byproducts are an active drug that produces the desired effect. These types of compounds are called prodrugs. ---
**Author:** ![Chava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Chava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chava)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-swallow-medication/147495/30 "2003-01-10T15:42:49Z")
Some medications are inhaled (e.g. asthma medications) or applied to the skin (e.g. testosterone) or taken as nasal sprays (some immunizations). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-swallow-medication/147495.md?page=1)