Talk:Capsule (pharmacy)

Why Capsules exist
Many medications are distasteful, could be one answer. My question was were capsules the precursor to biodegradable gabage bags or plastics? They were first...makes me kind of feel uneasy about that with soo many other things from the so called medical and pharmaceutical fields. LSD was thought to be a miracle drug when it was developed, they even killed an elephant with it and the researchers used it themselves. Latest was that the neurology researchers in switzerland are now developing scans of those using LSD, the technologies are such as not to be trusted in that realm also. One must recall historical developments globally wars, conquests, regimes, empires etc....and then look again. Capsules, maybe it was a biodegradability test also. Why would I know that somewhere one of them said "why not?"... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.122.65.195 (talk) 20:57, 3 December 2009 (UTC)

Why capsules?
somebody please fill this in:

WHY do capsules exist? Pills are sufficient for large dosages of drugs, however capsules seem to be used to deliver a wide range of dosages in many drugs. I have noticed that encapsulated powders (when split) are quite sickly to taste. Perhaps these distasteful medications are enclosed in a container that has the ability to break down within the stomach, so that these unnatural and possibly toxic medications do not have to be tasted.

Further, most of these medications seem to be make use of chemical formulas which do not occur naturally. Are these formulas which are relatively new since the creation of pharmaceuticals safe for long term use? How toxic are they and what proof of this is there?

So WHY are many medications which occur as powders, not compounded and instead put into capsules? Slow release? Distaste? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Blashyrk (talk • contribs)

A couple of reasons:

For some people capsules are easier to swallow than pills, although this may be hard to understand for someone who has no issue with either preparation sometimes it just comes down to preference - this is why you'll often find the most common analgesics, antibiotics etc. available in both capsule and tablet form.

For some medications it is desirable that the patient be able to consume it in a way other than swallowing the capsule, especially young or patients with special needs can benefit from the ability to empty the contents of a capsule and mix with food etc.

Also by using a capsule the manufacturer can avoid using excessive binding agents, potential allergens (look at how many tablets contain lactose) and sweeteners - the pure, or relatively pure medication can be put inside the capsule saving money both by not using these inactive bulking and enhancing agents and by not having to employ extra tablet pressing equipment if they are already set up for capsules.

A capsule can also be faster than a tablet in dispersing and releasing its contents, gelatin breaks down quickly compared to the highly compressed bulking agents used in most pills (and quick releasing bulking agents for tablets are comparatively expensive compared to the usual agents) which can be an advantage for some medications, particularly analgesics.

Hope it helps. Waydee (talk) 18:21, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

Page name
I think it'd make more sense to have the page at capsule (pharmacology) (or capsule (pharmacy) or capsule (medicine), as I don't think it's actually pharmacology), because capsule is a far more common word than encapsulation. --Galaxiaad 23:10, 7 February 2007 (UTC)


 * I agree. And you're right, this is not a pharmacology page. Pharmacology is the study of the effects of drugs, pharmacy is their creation. So this is clearly pharmacy instead of pharmacology.


 * Also, how long does an average capsule take to break down inside the body? --Matthew Proctor 02:10, 2 July 2007 (UTC)

The British Pharmacopoeia specification for the dissolution time of capsules is 30 minutes. As for the name of the page, I'm happy with capsule (pharmacy). --Slashme 14:44, 9 October 2007 (UTC)


 * I also agree with capsule (pharmacy). I was about to make the change, but there are about 30 links to this page, including a fair number of redirects, and I'm not sure on policy on cleaning up these loose ends, nor do I have time just now to look into it.  pill (pharmacology) should likewise be changed, but it has only a few links.  MaxEnt 11:43, 8 November 2007 (UTC)


 * Done. Note that the majority of inbound links (which I fixed) had capsule in the text, rather than encapsulation. MaxEnt (talk) 22:37, 22 November 2007 (UTC)

Perception of strength
Added.

I don't think the NYTimes sources fully supports that sentence as written. That article essentially puts forward a personal opinion of one individual from a fair while back, and even his opinion if taken seriously reads more as some population, somewhere rather than all people, since the beginning. MaxEnt (talk) 23:28, 22 November 2007 (UTC)

missing link and possible ommision
ok. so the capsules (the 2-part ones) are hard gelatin. ok. what is hard gelatin. DOH! needs a link to what this kind of gelatin is, and how its used. btw, dissolve time in a common acid would be highly appreciated. the possible omission is that my mother believed that the capsules were made of some kind of cellulite (ie cellulose)

also, for the record: i am doing a Science Fair project, and using capsules to contain the reactants, so that the capsules dissolve in the liquid, and that triggers reaction. but the capsules didnt dissolve. i JUST tried dissolving them in a 50-50 solution of water and white wine (clear) vinegar.... it took 15 minuites. with stirring. so, the question is, what DOES dissolve them. preferably something safe to handle, especially household.

any such answer could go on the gelatin page if there isnt one already.

btw, the reaction is taking place inside a plastic soda bottle. so no acids that will melt plastic.

Ω: Rendered Null and Void (talk) 01:27, 24 February 2008 (UTC)

Capsule Size
I noticed that there is a standardized sizing system for capsules (size 0, size 00, etc.). Could someone explain this? 20:31, 17 March 2008

Yes I'd like to second that. I came to this page to discover how large is a Size 0 capsule as products often do not show the actual size of the items. Can someone knowledgeable add this info please.

--Quatermass (talk) 09:57, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

There are two types of capsules. Hard capsules and Soft capsules. Hard capsules are preformed (on a metal pin) and so the sizes are fixed by the dimensions of the pin. These tend to have the size 00, 0, 1, 2, 3 etc. Manufacturers buy the empty shells, then use filling equipment to open the two pieces, fill them, then close them and seal them. Softgel capsules are made on rotary die encapsulation machines following the invention of R P Scherer. Whilst the tooling guides the size of the softgel, the actual final volume is mostly determined by the fill volume and density. Softgel volume is normally described in the unit of (US) minims, with each minim roughly equivalent to 61mg of a material with a density of 1.0.

pill identification
identification of a white round pill v on one side and 2on the other side I does anyone know what a light blue round very small pill is it look like a 51 or 53 on one side and maybe a 31 or something on the other side...

Pills are identified by photographs in a book (webpage that needs subscription) called the Physician's Desk Reference. Any pharmacist should have a copy.

Vegetarian vs Non-vegetarian Capsules?
What are the differences between vegetarian vs non-vegetarian with respect to ease of manufacture, type of ingredient they can contain, advantages/disadvantages etc. etc.?

Does one company predominantly manufacture the two-part vegetarian capsules?

Why are we not using vegetarian capsules all the time?

N.B. I am an omnivore.

Honeybadger69 (talk) 16:35, 31 March 2010 (UTC)

Trans fats?
Just wondering what the full ingredients are, and if the capsules contain artificial oils/fats? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.253.29.67 (talk) 19:11, 22 May 2010 (UTC)

MSG neurotoxin in fillers, capsules
surprisingly this topic isnt locked :) maybe some research into how to avoid the neurotoxin while having medication?

Binders and fillers for medications, nutrients, and supplements, both prescription and non-prescription, enteral feeding materials, and some fluids administered intravenously in hospitals, may contain MSG. 'http://www.truthinlabeling.org/hiddensources.html' — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.42.193.203 (talk) 16:59, 29 November 2011 (UTC)

External link in "Manufacturing equipment"
There is an external link in the section "Manufacturing equipment" which takes the reader to a page on a commercial distributors web site. Is there no wikipedia page on encapsulation (history, process, hardware, etc)? 13:52, 8 April 2012 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.167.106.3 (talk)

Timed Release
I've read unaccredited sources stating that there is a time release mechanism for these Capsules. Meaning you are given the dose of contents more slowly than if you were to break apart the capsule and swallow it whole. The unaccredited sources stated that you can hurt your body if you swallow the ingredients outside of the capsule. Is there any solid information on if:
 * A) time release is an important quality of the capsule delivery system in no/some/all cases?
 * B) is this potentially harmful to any part of your body (such as heart) in no/some/all cases?

Some other unaccredited sources mentioned it being OK to swallow outside of the capsule, but very unpleasant (I can attest to the unpleasant nature); or to empty the capsule and dissolve it in water.

weren't two-pieces capsules made of azymes prior to gelatin?
of unleavened bread if you prefer. --Jerome Potts (talk) 21:54, 3 May 2016 (UTC)

Photo of "transparent" caps
The capsules in the photo bearing the caption, "Transparent capsules," are not, in fact, transparent...at least, the caps aren't, if the bodies are filled with green powder. I'll delete the word "transparent" for now, but others may want to change the picture someday.24.244.23.173 (talk) 04:27, 14 March 2020 (UTC)

huggywuggy
gfhwhhdvdbabsbe 180.70.245.202 (talk) 12:31, 20 September 2022 (UTC)