One day, a bear from the North presents with severe weight loss, and malnutrition. He is seen by a general physician. The general physician is given his medical history and surprised to see that this thin bear had lost over 30kg ever since moving to the North.
"Must be cold up there, Mr Bear," says the physician.
"Have you been eating enough?"
The bear looks up at the physician and says,
"But of course! In fact it's been so cold I've been eating more and more lately!"
The physician suspects that the bear has contracted a sort of parasite. He decides to give the bear a course of antihelmintic medication.
"Take two of these, every morning, 2 hours before food, for 7 days. Be sure to check your feces for any worms after you... conduct your business."
So the bear heads back up north and tries his new medicine. A week later, he returns to the hospital, even weaker and thinner than before.
"My, my, Mr Bear! What has happened? Did you take your medication as instructed?" questioned the physician.
"But of course! And I've also been eating twice the normal amount of food because the North has been getting colder and colder with the recent snowstorm! And I didn't see any worms out the other end either!"
The physician decides its time to ask the other healthcare professionals for advice. He brings the bear from the North to a meeting with all sorts of different specialist - the oncologist, the dietician, the cardiologist... no one seemed to know what was wrong with the bear.
Until the pharmacist arrived. He walked up to the bear, and simply looked at him, gazing, up... down... left... right... he closely observed the bears ears... his hips... his paws... his frizzled white fur...
Then, unfazed, the pharmacist said, "Bring me a paper bag, and some scissors."
The other physicians only laughed. "What kind of tomfoolery are you up to?! A paper bag and scissors he says!"
But the general physician form earlier in this story, he trusted the words of the pharmacist.
"Here. This is my last paper bag. And Scotch scissors too."
"Thank you Dr. Now, watch."
The pharmacist began to meticulously cut three holes into the paper bag. The other healthcare professions just stood at a distance and watched. The bear from the North was intrigued, but desperate enough to try anything.
"Here, wear this on your head."
The bear put on the paper bag. His eyes and mouth lined up perfectly with the three holes.
"Go home. Everytime you eat a meal, wear this paper bag. You should begin to improve."
The other healthcare professionals merely scoffed at him. The bear left again.
A week later, the bear from the North returned... and he was big! He was himself again, brimming with energy, healthy and lean, no longer malnourished.
"It worked! The pharmacist was right!"
All the healthcare professionals were stunned! They all gathered around the humble pharmacist and asked him, "How!? How did you know that would work? It's unlike anything we've ever studied!"
The pharmacist just chuckled. He said
"It's simple. For proper oral absorption you need to mask any polar groups."
