Medicine vs Medication
Medicine and Medication are two words related to the field of medicine that are often confused by the common man when it comes to their meaning. As a matter of fact there is some difference between the two words.
Medicine is a preparation used in the treatment or prevention of disease. A medicine is generally understood as a preparation taken by mouth. The word ‘medicine’ often refers to the science or practice of the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease. Medicine is often spoken as opposed to surgical methods. In other words medicine is very much distinct from the field of surgery.
The physician that has acquired the degree of ‘master of surgery’ carries out the treatment and prevention of diseases by surgical methods. On the other hand the physician that has acquired the degree of ‘doctor of medicine’ carries out the treatment and the prevention of diseases by administering medicines.
The word ‘medication’ on the other hand has to be understood in altogether a different sense. Medication does not directly refer to the medicine or the preparation used in the treatment and the prevention of disease but on the other hand refers to the substance used in the preparation or simply the substance used for medical treatment.
Hence the major difference between medicine and medication is that medicine is the preparation used by the doctor in the treatment of the disease whereas medication is the substance used in the preparation of the medicine.
Sometimes the process of the treatment using drugs is called medication. Medication describes the chief chemical present in the drug and the effect of the medicine on the person who consumes it. Hence it is a term that can be applied to drugs too since drugs are also prepared by substances including chemical compounds.