Antifungal and metamorphic drugs must not be soft.
Some drugs should be thrown away as soon as they expire. Dr. Chen Xiao, deputy director of the Department of Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, pointed out that after the expiration date, the effective components of drugs may be decomposed into other products, and these decomposition products may have side effects on the body. If you take deteriorated internal medicine, it will not only have no therapeutic effect, but also be at risk of bacterial infection. External liniments, such as Eloxone, may cause skin allergies if they continue to be used after the expiration date. Repeated use of anti-inflammatory eye drops such as chloramphenicol and rifampicin after expiration may cause local discomfort such as dry eyes and itching, and may also cause eye diseases such as keratitis and conjunctivitis. In addition, the efficacy of antibacterial drugs such as amoxicillin and norfloxacin decreased rapidly. After the expiration date, the drug efficacy will drop by more than 10%, and it will have no effect after eating, so there is no need to feel sorry for it.
Some people think that expired health care products have few side effects. This is actually a misunderstanding. Health care products are not as strict as drugs in terms of production conditions and quality control. Many health products have not been audited by the Food and Drug Administration, and it is not clear what ingredients they contain. Over time, the change of ingredients may be more obvious than drugs, and the side effects are greater.
Just one day overdue, is the medicine effective?
Before and after the "threshold" expires, there is generally no significant difference in curative effect.
According to Li Xianwen, the expiration date of a drug is related to the stability of its ingredients. The validity period of western medicine is generally set at two to three years, because the composition of western medicine is relatively single and its stability is easy to control. At present, the longest validity period of western medicine can reach five years. The validity period of Chinese patent medicines is generally only 2 years or even shorter. In addition to the complex ingredients, it is more difficult to preserve traditional Chinese medicine in coatings and granules. A few volatile and degradable drugs generally have a validity period of six months to one and a half years.
According to the general standards of the State Administration of Pharmaceutical Products, a drug is deemed invalid if its efficacy is reduced by 10%. But in fact, there is no critical point in the validity period of drugs, and the efficacy does not suddenly drop 10% on the last day of validity. From the day of production, with the degradation of active ingredients, the efficacy has gradually decreased, so there is no obvious difference between the efficacy overdue for one or two days and the efficacy overdue for one or two days.
Huang, deputy chief physician of Guangzhou Yusheng Hospital, pointed out that some drugs that have just passed the expiration date but are well preserved have no toxic effect on human body, but their efficacy has been discounted. In particular, Chinese herbal medicines, unless there is mildew and deterioration visible to the naked eye, generally the curative effect will not plummet within a day or two, and they are still effective after taking them. Such as Korean ginseng, turtle shell and so on. , can be sealed for at least three years, and wax sealed Wuji Baifeng pills, although the validity period is set at two years, can actually be taken within five years.
However, several experts generally disapprove of patients taking expired drugs with luck, but if they take them by mistake, they should not worry too much about it. In fact, compared with the drugs that have "stepped on the threshold of expiration date", some drugs that have not yet reached the expiration date but have deteriorated because of the unsatisfactory preservation environment will have more serious consequences once taken by mistake.