UNS — During Ramadan, health and physical condition demand extra attention. A small indication of flu or other illness needs to be checked with the doctor to ensure that your fasting will run well. Doctors often prescribed medicines for a patient with different dosages and when to take each medication. The differences in dosage for each drug require full attention from the patient. The Head of Pharmacy Program Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science (FMIPA) UNS, Dr. rer. nat Saptono Hadi, S.Si., M.Si., Apt., emphasized that consumers should fully understand the dosage of their medicines and take it correctly.
“A proper medicinal usage is, first, take the right dosage, at the right time, and using the right method. The right time means in time, if you need to take it three times a day, then divide 24 hours by 3, which is 8 hours between intake,” Dr. Saptono explained to uns.ac.id team.
This division means that consumers need to see how many times they need to take their medicines a day. If twice, they can take the med at 09.00 and 21.00. Based on this explanation, the community should fix how they take their medicines as Indonesian people often take their medication during their meal times. When they were instructed to take drugs three times a day, they will take them after breakfast, lunch, and dinner, while the time interval between their meals is inconsistent. Untimely medicinal intake will bring non-optimal results.
“Medicine effectiveness comes from how it is consumed. If it is taken incorrectly, it will not be effective. Theoretically, the dosage in the human body needs to be constant, for example, six hours. After six hours, the concentration in the blood goes down; thus, we need to take another dosage. It needs to be constant like that. If the interval is inconsistent, the (concentration) will fluctuate,” Dr. Saptono emphasized.
Further, Dr. Saptono also explained how to take medicine correctly. In the packaging, a doctor often writes before or after a meal. The patient needs to obey this. Medication prescribed before a meal means it needs to be taken at least 30 minutes before meals. Similarly, for medicines prescribed after meals, the patient needs to wait around 30 – 60 minutes before taking the medication. With all being said, let’s take our medications correctly folks! Humas UNS
Reporter: Ida Fitriyah
Editor: Dwi Hastuti