Pill swallowing made easy

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MunichEvery third person has problems swallowing pills. Heidelberg researchers have now developed two techniques that make it much easier to take even large tablets and capsules.

Bottle trick

For the "bottle trick" fill a flexible plastic bottle with still water.
Put the tablet or capsule on your tongue. Close the neck of the bottle tightly with your lips. Take a long sip of water by sucking vigorously on the bottle - you can let it dent a little. Swallow the pill and water in one go. The head can be tilted slightly backwards. In this way, the tablet follows gravity to the base of the tongue and is flushed when swallowed.

Nick trick

The "nod trick" is just as ingenious - however, it is only suitable for capsules. Put this on your tongue and take a sip of water in your mouth. Now tilt your head forward, chin towards your chest and swallow it. Since the capsules (unlike tablets) are lighter than water, when the head is tilted they automatically rise in the direction of the higher throat in this position.

For the experiment, the researchers at the University of Heidelberg had 150 participants aged 18 to 85 years old swallow 16 different inactive tablets and capsules in different shapes and sizes, initially without instructions. The test subjects then rated on a scale how easily or poorly the placebos could be conveyed into the stomach. More than half of the testers said they had difficulty swallowing. As expected, the biggest pills were the biggest problems.

Ease of swallowing

The trick with the bottle made swallowing much easier for around 60 percent of the test subjects. The nick trick for capsules works even better: With its help, the participants had almost no problems even with large capsules.

The researchers recommend that doctors make their patients aware of these two swallowing techniques. "This reduces the risk that patients who cannot get large tablets or capsules off the therapy or simply take fewer tablets," explains study director Professor Walter Haefeli from Heidelberg University Hospital.

More than 600 million drug packs are prescribed in Germany every year. Around 60,000 different preparations are on the market, around 70 percent of which are tablets or capsules. (cf)

Source: Press release Heidelberg University Hospital, November 13, 2014

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