To avoid getting lost in the "forest" of pills

If compared to the colors of flowers and leaves, medicine is also diverse. The forms of tablets, soft capsules or hard capsules have many beautiful and shiny shapes like pearls, helping many people to be more friendly with medicine if they have to use pharmaceuticals.

Blister pack capsules

This is the most common form of medicine on the market and is widely used in the community because this is an easy-to-preserve form of medicine, patients use it themselves according to the doctor's instructions, without the need for other medical equipment such as injections. Capsules can be solid or soft capsules that are accurately dosed and prepared in a suitable form (solution, powder, granules) contained in a capsule shell made of gelatin or starch. With this form of preparation, the medicine can hide the unpleasant taste, making it easy to drink, avoiding external effects, protecting the medicine from being destroyed by gastric juice. Therefore, do not chew to avoid damaging the capsule shell, do not remove the capsule shell to get the active ingredient inside to drink. Particularly for the elderly, the swallowing reflex may be reduced and there is a phenomenon of reduced secretion, so when taking the medicine, the patient can hold the pill in the mouth to soften the capsule shell and then swallow it with water to avoid the phenomenon of the medicine sticking to the esophagus. People often store pills in tin blisters or glass bottles, plastic bottles...

The arrangement of pills in a straight line or diagonally on the blister pack, the number of pills in each blister pack has also been carefully studied for the convenience of use according to the patient's treatment regimen. We see that there are blister packs with 1, 2, 5 pills, 10 pills, 12 pills, 30 pills or more to suit each type of medicine. The number of pills on the blister pack or in the bottle does not necessarily have to be an even number of tens. For example, drugs for treating gastric and duodenal ulcers have a 14-day treatment regimen, so the number of pills is usually 14 or 28 depending on the type. A pharmacist working in the pharmaceutical industry has proposed packing blister packs of 12 pills instead of 10 pills/blister, although it would cost more to improve the production line. Thus, a blister pack of 12 pills will be used for 3 days (4 pills/day), making it easier for patients to separate doses and avoid forgetting to take their medicine.

Pills come in many colors and eye-catching designs, making them more appealing to patients.

Tablets

Also the most common form of medicine on the shelves of pharmacies today. There are many shapes and sizes for each type of tablet; it can be prepared by compressing one or more medicinal substances. Each tablet is a unit dose, so it is very easy to use, easy to transport and easy to store. It is best to take it with plenty of water (boiled water left to cool, about 200ml, that is, a large glass). However, tablets have a slower effect than injections, and are difficult to take for children, the elderly, and people in a coma. People often cover tablets with a suitable film to hide the unpleasant taste of the medicinal substance, avoid external influences, protect the drug from being destroyed by gastric juice, or control the release of the medicinal substance (helps release the drug slowly). Lozenges are often used to disinfect and reduce inflammation in the oral cavity. The medicinal substance is released slowly. Sublingual tablets are often used when a quick effect of the drug is needed or to avoid decomposition in gastric juice and the liver. The drug must be released rapidly and rapidly for systemic action.

Effervescent tablets

It is one of the forms of tablets mixed with solution or suspension for oral or external use with the advantage of being very suitable for people who have difficulty swallowing tablets, reducing mucosal irritation for some drugs, increasing bioavailability for some tablets, and masking the taste. However, effervescent tablets must be prepared and stored in moisture-proof conditions because they contain a large amount of alkaline salts (sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, potassium carbonate), so effervescent tablets should not be used for people on a salt-free diet. In some cases, effervescent tablets cause blood alkalinization, affecting the absorption of some substances. People with high blood pressure can still use effervescent tablets if they use a gas-forming salt, KHCO3, because potassium in the blood plays a role in lowering blood pressure.

On the other hand, the acid used is vitamin C (ascorbic acid) to create gas that plays a role in stabilizing blood vessels and stabilizing blood pressure. Two types of excipients: KHCO3 and ascorbic are widely used in the preparation of effervescent tablets for people with high blood pressure. Effervescent tablets are often quite large in size because they are not meant to be taken directly into the mouth but must be mixed into a solution before being taken. Pharmaceutical shelves often display round tubes containing 10-20 effervescent tablets each and are sold without a prescription. Also note that pharmacies and drug stores should be careful because these effervescent tablets are often placed on the counter as a form of advertising, sometimes arousing curiosity among drug buyers. They can conveniently hold and open the lid of the box many times, affecting the quality of the drug.

According to health.vadoisong