A medication or medicine is a drug taken to cure and/or ameliorate any symptoms of an illness or medical condition, or may be used as preventive medicine that has future benefits but does not treat any existing or pre-existing diseases or symptoms.
Dispensing of medication is often regulated by governments into three categories — over-the-counter (OTC) medications, which are available in pharmacies and supermarkets without special restrictions, behind-the-counter (BTC), which are dispensed by a pharmacist without needing a doctor's prescription, and Prescription only medicines (POM), which must be prescribed by a licensed medical professional, usually a physician.
In the UK, BTC medicines are called pharmacy medicines which can only be sold in registered pharmacies, by or under the supervision of a pharmacist.[citation needed] However, the precise distinction between OTC and prescription drugs depends on the legal jurisdiction.
Medications are typically produced by pharmaceutical companies and are often patented to give the developer exclusive rights to produce them, but they can also be derived from naturally occurring substance in plants called herbal medicine. Those that are not patented (or with expired patents) are called generic drugs since they can be produced by other companies without restrictions or licenses from the patent holder.
Drugs, both medicinal and recreational, can be administered in a number of ways:
* Orally, as a liquid or solid, that is absorbed through the stomach.
* Inhaled, (breathed into the lungs), as a vapor.
* Injected as a liquid either intramuscular or intravenous (put under the skin, into a vein or muscle tissue with the use of a hypodermic needle).
* Rectally as a suppository, that is absorbed by the colon.
* Vaginally as a suppository, primarily to treat vaginal infections.
* Bolus, a substance into the stomach to dissolve slowly.
* Insufflation, or snorted into the nose.
Many drugs can be administered in a variety of ways.