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Pepto-Bismol is an over-the-counter drug produced by the Procter and Gamble company used to treat minor digestive system upset. Its active ingredient is bismuth subsalicylate, which is also responsible for its distinctive pink color. The primary symptoms aided by Pepto-Bismol are nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea, and other temporary discomforts of the stomach and gastrointestinal tract.
Pepto-Bismol is made in chewable tablets[1] and swallowable caplets[2], but is best known for its original formula which is a thick liquid. This original formula is a medium pink color with a strong wintergreen flavor. These traits have become generally associated with the medicine to the degree that something may be described as "Pepto-Bismol pink" or as tasting like "Pepto-Bismol". The medicine is also heavily associated with advertisements for it in which people dance and sing out the "nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea" line.
Ingesting Pepto-Bismol may cause feces, as well as the tongue, to become dark green or black for several days.[3]
History
Pepto-Bismol was originally sold as a remedy for infant diarrhea by Norwich Pharmacal Company under the name Bismosal: Mixture Cholera Infantum, changing to Pepto-Bismol in 1919, and transferring to Procter and Gamble with their 1982 acquisition of Norwich Eaton Pharmaceuticals.
References
- ^ The trademark was extended to cover the tablets in 1973. Registration No. 0972198, November 6, 1973. http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=b8i462.2.2.
- ^ The capsules were introduced in 1983. Registration No. 1269605, March 13, 1984; cancelled July 16, 1990. http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=b8i462.2.1.
- ^ When a small amount of bismuth combines with trace amounts of sulfur in your saliva and gastrointestinal tract, a black-colored substance (bismuth sulfide) is formed. This discoloration is temporary and harmless. http://www.pepto-bismol.com/faqs.shtml#7
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- This page was last modified on 7 October 2008, at 19:09.
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