Medicine

When one get sick, their first instinct is to take medicine. But how exactly does medicine make one feel better? What in medicine helps cure one's illness? First, medicine can do a certain number of things to make one feel better. They can either, replace a certain substance that is missing from one's body, kill germs/bacteria that are the source of an illness, or suppress the symptoms of an illness. In general, most medicines do this by altering the cells' activity.

The body requires a certain amount of proteins (amino acids), vitamins, and minerals in order to function. If any of these substances are lacking or in overabundance, it can result in medical disorders. For example, for one who has diabetes, the body is lacking in insulin. Insulin is a hormone created by the pancreas and helps the body absorb glucose from the food we eat. For those with diabetes, they can take insulin injections which increase the amount of insulin in the body. Medicine can also be used to reduce the production of certain hormones. For women, medicine can be taken to lower estrogen levels in the body since high estrogen levels could result in endometrial cancer. These kinds of medicine either increase or decrease the activity of the cells by binding to sites found on the cells' surface.

Most of the time, medicine is taken because one is ill. In this case, the medicine is made to destroy the germs or bacteria that caused the illness. When one goes to the doctor, the doctor will try to find the cause of the illness and then prescribe medicine that will specifically kill the germ/bacteria that is causing it. There are many types of these kinds of medicine and taking the wrong one will not be effective. A common type that is taken by children are antibiotics. Antibiotics destroy harmful bacteria by either killing them directly or preventing them from multiplying. Different antibiotics kill different types of bacteria.

Even when one is taking medicine that destroys the bacteria that causes the illness, they may still feel symptoms. And so, there is medicine, pain relievers and symptom soothers, made in order to suppress those symptoms. Pain relievers, such as Advil, do not cure one's illness but only makes one feel better as they are recovering. Symptom soothers, such as cough drops or cold medicine, are meant to do the same thing as pain relievers by making one more comfortable as they recover. Since there is no cure for the cold other than to let it run its course, as explained in a previous post, the next best solution is to take medicine that will suppress the symptoms. Many people who have incurable diseases such as asthma, diabetes, or high blood pressure take medicine to avoid the symptoms associated with their illness so they can enjoy life better. Pain relievers work by stopping the production or chemical substances called mediators that are released by cells in response to damage.  The body transmits pain to the brain when the damaged cells release a chemicals so when the medicine keeps the damaged cells from doing so, your brain will not receive the "pain message" from the damaged cells.  This is probably why some people say that pain is only in your head.