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 are… it'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。