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  • There are plenty of reasons to want a fully-stocked medicine cabinet, but it's also possible to be too prepared.

    大家總有不同的原因會想把藥箱塞滿滿,但其實有可能是過份準備了。

  • Like, while that huge bottle of aspirin you bought on sale ten years ago might have seemed like a great idea.

    比如你十年前打折買到一大罐阿司匹林,可能是個不錯的做法。

  • It's almost definitely expired by now.

    但現在絕對已經過期了。

  • Expired medicine might seem like a weird concept because a lot of it doesn't get moldy or slimy like old food.

    過期藥物也許是一個陌生的概念,因為它們不會像過期食物一樣發霉或變得黏糊糊的。

  • Some of it is just powder, but it can expire.

    有的藥物只是粉狀,但還是會過期的。

  • And when it does, it's time to pitch it.

    過期了,就要把它們丟掉。

  • Just like with packaged food, drug manufacturers in the U.S. are required to provide an expiration date for medications.

    與一般包裝食物無異,美國的藥廠都必須提供藥物到期日。

  • They're estimated after seeing how many samples of a drug degrade over short periods of time, or by accelerating the breakdown of the drug's active ingredients.

    廠商透過觀察有多少藥物樣品在短時間內降解,或加速分解藥物中的活性成分,去推斷藥物到期日。

  • Like the dates on food, the dates on medicine aren't an indicator of when the drug might hurt you.

    像食物上的到期日,藥物的到期日並不是指日期過後會對你造成傷害。

  • Instead, they're a guarantee that it will work as intended, as long as it's in the original, sealed packaging.

    反而是確保在原裝、還未開封的情況下,藥物可以發揮預期的功效。

  • However, after that date, you can't be totally confident that the medicine will work as well.

    可是,一旦過了那日期後便沒有把握藥物依然能有效發揮。

  • And if you've already opened the bottle, the expiration date no longer applies, and all bets are off.

    如果你已經把藥罐開封,到期日就沒有意義了,而後果誰也說不準。

  • Some of this is because outside factors can cause compounds in medicine to break down more quickly.

    有部分原因是外在因素會把藥物中的化合物分解得更快速。

  • Heat, humidity, and sunlight are all big ones.

    包括像高溫、濕度以及陽光都是主要因素。

  • And in some cases, those broken-down compounds can actually become unsafe.

    在某些情況下,分解後的化合物可能會有害。

  • So if you've been keeping your aspirin in the bathroom cabinet all this time, your shower has probably done a number on it

    如果你是長期把阿士匹林放在浴室的櫃子裡的話,那你平常洗澡就是在破壞它。

  • Even if everything looks normal.

    儘管一切看起來正常。

  • For many medicines, there's also the risk of bacterial growth, especially when it comes to liquid medicine.

    有不少的藥物都有細菌增長的風險,尤其是液體的藥物。

  • As soon as you open that container, the contents are no longer sterile.

    一旦把藥瓶打開了,內容物就不再是無菌的。

  • And quickly become susceptible to contamination from the environment.

    並且迅速變得輕易受到外在環境所污染。

  • So if you take that past the expiration date, there's a chance you're drinking something pretty nasty.

    所以,倘若你在到期日後繼續服用,你就有可能喝下一些噁心的東西。

  • Ultimately, taking expired medicine is like spinning a roulette wheel of potential dangers.

    最後提醒大家,服用過期藥物就如同玩輪盤要下賭注般有潛在的危險。

  • In the best-case scenario, the drug just won't work as well.

    最「樂觀」的情況只是藥物沒有發揮其功效。

  • And in the worst case, you'll make yourself more sick.

    但最壞的情況是會讓你的病情變得更嚴重。

  • And since it's really difficult to figure out what all the risks areit's just not worth it.

    由於難以預測風險,所以不值得一試。

  • Also, this should go without saying, but this is especially true about drugs for serious or life-threatening medical conditions.

    此外,更不用說的是針對嚴重或危及生命疾病的藥物。

  • Especially because some of those lose their effectiveness really quickly.

    尤其是有的藥物在極短時間內會失去藥效。

  • For example, the heart medicine nitroglycerin becomes unstable at high heat and is known to lose its potency fast.

    例如治療心臟疾病的硝化甘油在高溫下會變得不穩定,會迅速失去藥效。

  • These drugs could also seriously hurt you.

    這些藥物更可能會嚴重傷害你的健康。

  • Some prescription drugs have a very narrow therapeutic window, meaning the exact dosage is really important.

    有些處方藥物的治療範圍更是狹窄,也就是說服用確切的劑量是非常重要的。

  • Receiving too much or too little of an active ingredient could have significant adverse effects.

    攝取過多或過少當中的活性成分都可能會適得其反。

  • So at the end of the day, it's much safer just to pitch things.

    總而言之,定期丟掉是個安全的做法。

  • If there aren't any specific instructions on the package, the Food & Drug Administration website has recommendations for how to do that.

    如果包裝上沒有特別註明,可以到有關當局的網站參考查詢。

  • If you want to learn more, you can click the link in our description.

    如果還想了解更多,可以點下影片介紹裡的網址。

  • Thanks for asking!

    謝謝大家的提問!

  • And thanks to all of our patrons on Patreon for supporting this episode, and for asking such thoughtful questions.

    也感謝在Patreon上的各位,並提出如此發人深省的問題。

  • If you want to help us keep making more episodes and support free science education online, you can go to patreon.com/scishow.

    如果想提供我們更多題材,並繼續支持免費線上科學教學的話,歡迎到 patreon.com/scishow。

There are plenty of reasons to want a fully-stocked medicine cabinet, but it's also possible to be too prepared.

大家總有不同的原因會想把藥箱塞滿滿,但其實有可能是過份準備了。

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