Updated: If you’re in your mid-50s or older, there’s a very good chance you’ll know the phrase, ‘Have a cup of tea, a Bex and a good lie down’. It was used in ads in the 1950s and `60s for Bex, a pain-relief pill or powder that combined paracetamol, phenacetin and caffeine.
Bex may be gone, but having a lie down might be an important part of the dosage process, according to new research.
The phrase implies having a lie down after taking a pill, but a study shows doing that while lying down is more likely to maximise its efficiency. And, bizarrely, which side you lie on makes a big difference.
We know this thanks to the work of Jae Ho ‘Mike’ Lee, a former postdoctoral researcher at Johns Hopkins and lead author of a new study published in the journal Physics of Fluids.
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Dr Lee’s paper is titled Computational modelling of drug dissolution in the human stomach: Effects of posture and gastroparesis on drug bioavailability. Breaking it down, that means Dr Lee and his colleagues created what they call a ‘StomachSim’ to test the efficiency of the various ways we take pills.
The modelling shows that lying on your right side is the best way to get the quickest bang for your medical buck.
Perhaps even more surprisingly, not only is lying on your left side less efficient than your right, it is actually the worst of all possible postures.
Read: Paracetamol not proven effective for most pain relief, says study
The physics behind this stems from the fact that most pills do not start working until the stomach ejects their contents into the intestine. The closer a pill lands to the lower part of the stomach (the antrum), the faster it starts to dissolve and empty its contents into the duodenum, the first part of the small intestine.
It is only when the pills reach the duodenum that they begin to work their medical ‘magic’.
Dr Lee’s team tested four postures and lying on your right side was a clear winner, ahead of standing up or lying on your back, which were in roughly equal second place, and way ahead of lying on your left side.
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Such was the difference, a pill that takes 10 minutes to dissolve on the right side, could take 23 minutes to dissolve in an upright posture and more than 100 minutes when lying on the left side.
So the next time someone tells you to take a Bex and have a good lie down, make sure you do the lying down first and, even more importantly, make sure it’s on your right side!
Have you ever been given this advice by your health professional? Do you find it surprising? Why not share your experience and thoughts in the comments section below?
Updated 5 September 2022: The modelling shows that lying on your right (prev. left) side is the best way to get the quickest ‘bang’ for your medical ‘buck’. and So the next time someone tells you to take a Bex and have a good lie down, make sure you do the lying down first and, even more importantly, make sure it’s on your right (prev. left) side!
Disclaimer: This article contains general information about health issues and is not advice. For health advice, consult your medical practitioner.
This article is seriously messed up.
Is left or right side better ?
Hi,
I suggest you read this article yourselves, the end result is that you contradict the efficacy of left and right a number of times.
SS
I normally take my pills sitting down. Wonder why Dr Lee didn’t include that posture in his research?