Lie on your right side to absorb medication better, new research suggests

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A new study has found that posture affects how the stomach absorbs medication, and lying on your right side speeds up the action of a medication

Lie on your right side to absorb medication better, new research suggests

  • The researchers used the state-of-the-art “StomachSim”, which is based on the human stomach
  • Scientists say that swallowing pills is the most complex way for humans to ingest it
  • A new study has found that the influence of gravity when taking pills was enormous
  • Leaning to the left slowed the exit velocity of the drug, but leaning to the right doubled the concentration

A new study has found that taking medications lying on your right side speeds up their effects, as researchers say posture affects how the stomach absorbs medication.

Scientists have used a state-of-the-art ‘StomachSim’, based on the anatomy of the human stomach, to analyze and understand how effective swallowed drugs are.

Research published in the journal Physics of Fluids adds to the evidence that people should be educated on what posture to adopt when taking pills orally, and adds to the advice already given on whether to eat before or after medication.

Scientists say that swallowing pills is the most complex way for the human body to absorb an active pharmaceutical ingredient, since the drug’s bioavailability in the gastrointestinal tract depends on the drug’s ingredients and the dynamic physiological environment of the stomach.

When a person lies on their left side, the stomach outlet is highest.

American scientists used a biomimetic in-silico simulator for their study, which is based on the realistic anatomy and morphology of the human stomach and is called “StomachSim”.

A new study has found that posture affects how the stomach absorbs medication, and lying on your right side speeds up the action of a medication

Study co-author Professor Rajat Mittal (pictured), of Johns Hopkins University, said that gastric contents and gastric fluid dynamics are among the factors that play a role in a drug's bioavailability

Study co-author Professor Rajat Mittal (pictured), of Johns Hopkins University, said that gastric contents and gastric fluid dynamics are among the factors that play a role in a drug’s bioavailability

It turned out that the influence of gravity was enormous, while leaning to the left slowed the speed at which a drug leaves the stomach to almost zero.

Scientists say the modeling is believed to be the first of its kind to couple gastric biomechanics to pill movement.

Standing up caused more drugs to leave the stomach, while leaning back increased mixing by 50 percent, reports The Times.

However, tilting to the right had the strongest impact, resulting in a doubling of the concentration of the drug.

Study co-author Professor Rajat Mittal of Johns Hopkins University said: “Oral administration is surprisingly complex despite being the most common choice for drug delivery.

“When the pill reaches the stomach, the movement of the stomach walls and the flow of the contents inside determine the rate at which it dissolves. The properties of the pill and the contents of the stomach also play a major role.

“However, current experimental or clinical methods for evaluating the dissolution of oral drugs are limited in their ability to examine this, making it challenging to understand how dissolution affects various gastric diseases such as gastroparesis, which slows emptying.” becomes of the stomach.’

The research adds to the evidence that people should be educated on what posture to adopt when taking pills orally, scientists say

The research adds to evidence that people should be educated on what posture to adopt when taking pills orally, scientists say

He said that the contents of the stomach and gastric fluid dynamics are among the factors that play a role in a drug’s bioavailability, and that gastric contractions can create pressure and create complex pill trajectories.

Prof Mittal added: “This leads to variable dissolution rates of the tablet and uneven emptying of the drug into the duodenum and sometimes gastric excretion in the case of modified-release dosing.

“Together, these issues present multiple challenges to drug delivery design.”

He continued: “In this work, we demonstrate a novel computer simulation platform that offers the potential to overcome these limitations.

“Our models can generate bio-relevant drug dissolution data that can provide useful and unique insights into the complex physiological processes behind oral pill administration.”

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