--- title: How medicines work — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «How medicines work», a lesson of the medicine course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: A tablet doesn't know where your headache is: it is swallowed, soaks through the gut into the blood, and travels all round the body, acting only on th --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/17-how-medicines-work/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Medicine](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/) / How medicines work # How medicines work Lesson 17 of the medicine course of Mova's primary school: 18 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/medicine/17-how-medicines-work/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/17-how-medicines-work/0/) — A tablet doesn't know where your headache is: it is swallowed, soaks through the gut into the blood, and travels all round the body, acting only on the parts it fits, like a key in a lock. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/17-how-medicines-work/1/) — Calpol is children's paracetamol: it blocks pain signals and lowers fever, but it doesn't cure the cause; your body does the healing. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/17-how-medicines-work/2/) — Other forms put medicine where it's needed: cream on the skin, drops in the eye, an inhaler into the lungs. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/17-how-medicines-work/3/) — New medicines are tested in labs, then in careful trials with volunteers, and checked by regulators before doctors can prescribe them; even natural doesn't always mean safe. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/17-how-medicines-work/4/) — Medicines look like sweets to small children, so they are kept locked up high, out of reach and sight. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/17-how-medicines-work/5/) — Calpol is a brand of paracetamol for children; painkillers block pain signals and lower fever but don't cure the cause. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/17-how-medicines-work/6/) — Most swallowed medicines are absorbed through the gut into the blood and carried all round the body, acting where they find the right targets. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/17-how-medicines-work/7/) — Creams work where they are put, so less medicine goes round the whole body; a thin layer as directed is enough. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/17-how-medicines-work/8/) — Liquid medicine is measured with a measuring syringe or spoon, because kitchen spoons are different sizes. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/17-how-medicines-work/9/) — Eye drops are put in by gently pulling down the lower lid, without touching the eye with the bottle; rubbing the eye straight afterwards can push the medicine out. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/17-how-medicines-work/10/) — Some medicines are spaced through the day to keep a steady level in the blood; taking all the doses at once is dangerous. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/17-how-medicines-work/11/) — Liquid medicine is easier for children to swallow, and the dose can be measured exactly. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/17-how-medicines-work/12/) — Many medicines are naturally bitter, so makers add sweet flavours for children. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/17-how-medicines-work/13/) — A placebo is a dummy treatment with no active medicine; people sometimes feel better just because they expect to. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/17-how-medicines-work/14/) — Scientists compare new medicines with placebos in trials to see if they really work. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/17-how-medicines-work/15/) — Regulators, official checkers, test a medicine before doctors can prescribe (order) it, and side effects (unwanted effects) are watched for after it goes on sale, because rare ones only show up when many people use it. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/17-how-medicines-work/16/) — Natural doesn't always mean safe: some plants are poisonous. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/17-how-medicines-work/17/) — Medicines are kept out of reach and sight of small children; child-resistant lids are not child-proof. - ← previous: [A classmate with diabetes, and other long-term conditions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/16-a-classmate-with-diabetes-and-other-long-term-conditions/) - next →: [The right dose and never more than](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/18-the-right-dose-and-never-more-than/) - ↑ back to [Medicine](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/)