[neilep (OP)]

Dearest Entericologists,

Ewe're sugar coated ewe are !


As a sheepy I of course luff to digest things only in my small intestine !...It's all I think about really !  I just luff to coat things  in a surface related digestive thing !

Look, here are some tablets that are designed to be digested only in the small intestine !


 [ Invalid Attachment ]
Enterically Surfaced Tablets Hanging Out Yesterday


Nice eh ?  Being delivered next Tuesday as a maracas filler !



So, here's my kweschun(s),........why go the bother of having things digest only in the small intestine ?
What's so wrong about the tummy ?   and what is the coating that prevents absorption into the belly ?


Ewe see, I don't know !....else ...I would not ask the kweschun !


I'm sat here as a sheepy
Presumably not gloating
As I have no worldly knowledge
Of enterically Coating !


Hugs and shmishes


mwah mwah mwah !



Neil
Enterically Coated Sheep
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[RD]

The enteric coating can be to enable slow release of the drug ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_release_technology

[imatfaal]

I believe that enteric coated aspirin is prescribed (for heart-conditions) to lower the chances of damage to the stomach wall by long term use of aspirin

[SeanB]

The coating prevents the drug from being released in the stomach, where the acid environment could chemically alter it, or even break it down completely. Letting it dissolve in the intestines later means it is absorbed unchanged, or at least absorbed in an active form. Time release works by using multiple small encapsulated doses of the drug, with each capsule shell taking a defined time to dissolve, ranging from a few minutes to a few hours. This range combined in a single capsule/pill means small doses are released over time, keeping a constant level of the drug in the body, useful for those drugs that are rapidly used or inactivated, but where they need to be supplied for a long time in constant dose.