If you need to take a pill, you might want to take it lying down -- on your right side, that is.

Researchers studying how body positioning affects the absorption of pills found that one taken when a person was lying on the right side speeded pills to the deepest part of the stomach. That pill could then dissolve 2.3 times faster than if the person was upright.

"We were very surprise...

Toking up increases your risk of landing in the hospital, a new study reports.

Recreational marijuana use was associated with 22% greater odds of needing to visit an emergency room or be hospitalized, Canadian researchers found.

The study showed physical injuries, lung ailments and ga...

Psilocybin, the psychedelic substance in "magic" mushrooms, is generating lots of interest as a potential treatment for a host of mental ills, but new research warns there is little data on how it might interact with more traditional psychiatric medications.

"There's a major incongruence between the public enthusiasm and exuberance with psychedelic substances for mental health issues - an...

Allopurinol, a frequently used gout medication, does not appear to drive up the risk for dying among gout patients who also struggle with chronic kidney disease, new research shows.

The finding is based on an analysis of two decades worth of British health records. And it may put to rest recent concerns regarding a well-known drug that both gout patients and kidney disease patients have u...

Many people turn to marijuana or cannabidiol to ease their achy joints and help them sleep, but a new study suggests that could wreak havoc with any other medications they're taking.

Why? Because the body uses the same set of enzymes to process them all, scientists report.

The chemicals in mari...

Tony Head was depressed and fearing death from stage 4 prostate cancer when, as part of a supervised scientific trial, he took a large dose of the psychedelic agent in "magic mushrooms," psilocybin.

Head donned a mask and headphones to shut out the world around him, and had an experience that changed the course of his life.

"At some point in that time I felt like a higher power or s...

Most prescriptions for the medication gabapentin are for unapproved uses -- and many patients end up taking it along with drugs that create potentially dangerous interactions.

That's the conclusion of a new study that looked at "off-label" use of gabapentin. In the United States, the drug is officially approved for treating certain seizures and some forms of nerve pain.

It's known, ...

It's a drug that's been supported by some conservative media figures, but taking ivermectin to treat or prevent COVID-19 might land you in the hospital, a new study warns.

Interest in the drug surged last summer as the highly contagious Delta variant took over the United States. But instead of protecting against the virus, the use of a medicine typically reserved for horses and cattle has...

Pfizer is expanding the recall of its anti-smoking drug Chantix (varenicline), the company announced Friday.

The nationwide recall of all Chantix 0.5 mg and 1 mg tablets was prompted because they may contain levels of a nitrosamine, N-nitroso-varenicline, that are at or above levels approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Long-term ingestion of N-nitroso-varenicline may b...

The anesthesia drug ketamine and a related medicine called esketamine appear to be safe for tough-to-treat depression, researchers report.

A number of studies have suggested that low doses of ketamine, which is also abused as a club drug under monikers that include "K" and "Special K," provide rapid antidepressant effects, typically improving mood within 24 hours to seven days.

Simi...