Table of contents:
- Stage 1:Absorption or drug absorption
- Stage 2: Drug distribution
- Stage 3: Drug metabolism
- Stage 4:Excretion or the process of removing drugs from the body
Do you often consume over-the-counter drugs? Not all drugs will have an immediate effect after you drink them. This all depends on the dosage taken, the type of drug taken, and the biological factors that are possessed by your body. But actually, how long does it take for the drug to be absorbed by the body, work, and then cause side effects?
In the body, there are several steps that must be passed until a drug can work properly and cause side effects. The process of drug metabolism consists of 4 stages called ADME, namely absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion.
Stage 1:Absorption or drug absorption
The first step that will occur while you are taking the medicine is the absorption of the drug by the body. factors that affect the absorption of drugs in the body, namely:
- The way a drug is produced in the factory.
- Characteristics of people who drink it.
- How the drug has been stored.
- As well as the chemicals contained in the drug.
Medicines enter the body in a number of ways, either by mouth (taken by mouth) or by injecting them into a vein. Drugs that are administered orally or injected, will still end up in the blood vessels, because they will be distributed throughout the body with the bloodstream. If the drug is taken orally or taken orally, the drug will first enter the digestive system before being absorbed into the blood vessels.
Stage 2: Drug distribution
As soon as the drug enters the body, the drug automatically enters the blood circulation. On average, one cycle of blood circulation occurs for approximately 1 minute. As long as it is in the blood circulation, the drug enters the tissues of the body. but the part of the body that gets the most drugs is the brain, which is about 16%.
Drugs penetrate different tissues at different rates, this depends on the ability of the drug to cross and penetrate the body's cell membranes. For example, the antibiotic rifampin, which is fat soluble. This type of drug is very easy to enter the brain tissue, but not for penicillin-type antibiotics which tend to dissolve in water.
In general, drugs that dissolve in fat can cross and enter the cell membranes of the body more quickly than drugs that are soluble in water. This will also determine how quickly the drug will react in the body.
The drug distribution process also depends on individual characteristics. For example, obese people tend to store more fat, thus facilitating the process of drug metabolism. However, the side effects of drugs arise more quickly than thin people who have less fat. Likewise with age, an older person has more fat reserves than a younger person.
Stage 3: Drug metabolism
The stages of drug metabolism are the stages in which medicinal chemicals are changed by the body in order to quickly overcome the disturbance that occurs. In this stage, enzymes consisting of amino acids (proteins) play a role in breaking down and changing the form of chemicals in order to work more effectively. The special enzyme to break down and metabolize drugs is called the P-450 enzyme and is produced in the liver.
However, many things that can affect the production of this enzyme, such as food or other drugs can affect the amount of this enzyme. When this enzyme is not produced in sufficient quantities, the drug will work slower and the side effects are not fast.
In addition, the age factor also determines how this enzyme can work. In children, especially newborns, the liver cannot produce this enzyme completely. Whereas in the elderly, the ability of the liver to decrease to produce this enzyme. so that children and the elderly are usually given low doses of drugs to facilitate the work of the liver.
Stage 4:Excretion or the process of removing drugs from the body
When the drug has successfully dealt with a problem or disorder in the body, the chemicals that come from the drug will be released naturally. The process of removing these chemicals is carried out in two main ways, namely through urine which is carried out by the kidneys, as well as by the bile glands and the liver.
Sometimes, the chemicals produced by these drugs will also be released through saliva, sweat, air that is exhaled through breathing, and breast milk. Therefore, breastfeeding mothers must be aware of the drugs they drink because they can poison their babies.
