Dispersible tablets: what does this mean? Advantages and disadvantages

All sick people are united by one thing - they dream of the fastest recovery. And for this it is necessary to pass the necessary course of treatment as quickly as possible, which is prescribed by the doctor. When applying to a medical institution, the patient will certainly receive recommendations on the admission of a particular pharmaceutical preparation, as well as the dosage of its use.

He will select a specialist for his patient and the optimal dosage form. The fulfillment of the latter condition in modern medical practice plays a particularly significant role.

Forms of medicines

Drug medications can have a different consistency. The form of their release is:

- gaseous (aerosols and gases);

- liquid (mixtures and suspensions, extracts and decoctions, tinctures and solutions);

- soft (suppositories and patches, ointments, liniments and pastes);

- firm (dragees and preparations, powders and tablets, capsules and granules, pills and powders).

Modern requirements to forms of medicines

In what form should be prescribed by a doctor drug medication? It is necessary that its form is optimal for this patient. This will allow the drug to have a pharmacological effect on the body not only in its entirety, but also with a minimum of side effects. In addition, an important characteristic of the remedy is the convenience of its form. And it should be comfortable for everyone: both sick and medical workers. And if the drug is for children? Then it should be convenient for the relatives of small patients.

And here it is worth pondering. Are the injections, pills, which are sometimes divided into four parts, and other dosage forms customary for us? Of course not! And this question is especially acute when small children become patients. Yes, the problem of an inconvenient dosage form is great, but thanks to the development of modern science it is quite solvable.

Innovative invention

For the average patient, the doctor will certainly offer pharmaceutical preparations that are in the form of tablets. Agree that this consistency of the drug substance is the most familiar for us. Take the pill during illness, we are accustomed from the very childhood, and we know perfectly well that for a more comfortable reception they have to be broken or divided, and sometimes even crushed. Yes, all these actions for better mastering of the drug patients had to be performed until recently. However, to date, the pharmacological industry has developed a revolutionary dosage form - dispersible tablets. What it is? This is a new innovative form of such pills familiar to us.

Currently, it is used only for a limited number of prescription and over-the-counter pharmacological preparations, in particular for vitamins and antibiotics. From conventional tablets, the dispersible ones differ in that they do not require swallowing. They are able to dissolve directly into the oral cavity. In addition, they can be placed in water, then taking a solution in the form of a suspension. And this is the main advantage of a dispersed tablet.

Operating principle

Most people are not yet familiar with such form of medications as dispersible tablets. What does this mean? Such a question is still not uncommon.

A new and yet obscure and not well-known form is not a solution and not a syrup that people have known for several millennia. What are these tablets different from other drugs?

The word "dispersion" means grinding. It turns out that tablets that have such a name are crushed by themselves in a certain way. How does this happen? The fact is that the active substance of the tablet, which can be, for example, a molecule of an antibiotic, combines with the filler, forming a special microsphere. An innovative tool is thousands of such entities. Upon contact with the aqueous medium, the dispersible tablet breaks up into its constituent microspheres. These "smart" formations retain and preserve the active substance until it reaches optimal conditions. So, in the stomach the microsphere protects the healing component from hydrochloric acid, and already in the duodenum the bonds with the filler are broken. At this stage, the active substance is released and absorbed into the blood.

For whom are they intended?

The doctor prescribed dispersible tablets to his patient. What does this mean? Medications in this form are recommended by specialists who, for whatever reason, refuse to use familiar medications. You need a similar tablet and the one to whom the reception of a pharmacological agent in this form will become most comfortable. In addition, people who suffer from dysphagia (swallowing dysfunction) are also prescribed dispersible tablets. What does the invention mean to them? This is an alternative form of medication, allowing the patient to undergo the necessary treatment. It should be noted that patients with dysphagia are found in all age groups. According to US medical statistics, a violation of the act of swallowing is observed in 35% of the country's inhabitants. It affects 60% of the elderly. Dysphagia is also observed in 18-22% of patients in inpatient medical institutions.

Dispersible tablets do not need to be washed down with water. That's why they perfectly suit those who are paralyzed and bedridden. Such means are preferred by busy people and travelers. After all, both those and others at hand do not always have a glass of water.

Also in the treatment of children, dispersible tablets are important. How to take such a drug? The tablet can be swallowed whole or dissolved in any amount of water. And for babies, the medicine can be given along with the mother's milk. It is the optimal, convenient and perfect solvent for babies.

Initially, the creators of these pills thought about the convenience of treating children. However, the dispersible form proved to be very universal. And for today it is not considered only as a nursery. Comfort and comfort in treatment should be at all.

History of appearance

Prior to dispersible tablets, people used buccal, or buccal. In this form, medicines have been produced which, in normal use, had low bioavailability and were inconvenient to use. Such pharmacological drugs were analgesics and steroids.

Next, dispersible tablets were invented. What kind of money were they? In this form, vitamins were originally produced. The tablets dissolve well in water, which the children liked.

Subsequently, this form began to find a wider application in the pharmacological industry. The procedure was improved and combined with the process of drug delivery through microparticles released during dissolution.

The first dispersible tablet, which could dissolve in the oral cavity, was released in 1990 in the United States. It was immediately approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.

Advantages of innovative tablets

In order to appreciate the revolutionary invention of the pharmacological industry, it is necessary to familiarize with it more closely. If we consider such a parameter as the rate of absorption, then it is more dispersible when compared with conventional ones. What does this mean? This form of the drug will dissolve faster in the digestive tract. A conventional tablet with a low absorption rate sometimes damages the gastrointestinal mucosa, and in the case of dispersible agents this is excluded.

What other advantages does the innovative form have? Specialists note a high bioavailability, which has dispersible tablets. What does this mean? This characteristic in modern medicine plays an important role in describing the properties of a given medicine. By bioavailability is understood the ability of the drug to be absorbed in the body. The quality of the therapeutic course depends directly on the values of this characteristic. For example, medicines in the form of a liquid for injections possess full bioavailability. In other ways of using the medicine, it is necessary to overcome too long a path, as a result of which a certain part of it does not reach the goal at all. The innovative form of the drug dissolves into microgranules. This is the main feature of dispersible tablets. What does this mean? Crushing into microgranules increases the bioavailability of the agent. It is absorbed already in the small intestine, producing a therapeutic effect, similar to the use of injections.

The positive side of such tablets is their pleasant taste and increased safety, which is created by reducing the risk of suffocation when taking medication.

Disadvantages of innovative tablets

Did the pharmacists find the ideal dosage form? Nearly. And these pills are not without some drawbacks. The main is concluded in the high cost of the dispersible agent. The price of similar tablets is increasing due to the complexity of implementing the technological process of their production. In addition, this form of preparation requires special packaging quality. She should not allow the agent to contact the water until the person needs to take it.

«Amoxiclav»

Consider the effect of dispersible agents on the example of tablets, which are a combination of clavulanic acid and amoxicillin. This drug "Amoxiclav," which is a semi-synthetic penicillin, that is, an antibiotic.

The drug is produced by the company "Sandre", which allowed patients to get a dosage form with maximum availability. The "Amoxiclav" product has all the registered indications typical of regular tablets. Its reception allows to conduct an effective course of treatment of chronic and acute sinusitis, otitis media, various kinds of infections and zaglugal abscess.

A similar form of the drug "Amoxicav" is prescribed for patients who are in a state of moderate severity. Excellent help for them - dispersible tablets. How to take the usual means with difficulty swallowing? Complicated! And here the dispersible form of the drug "Amoxicav" is simply irreplaceable. In addition, in addition to all the advantages of dispersible tablets, this agent is designed to take into account the dose of active substance required for the patient. Treatment becomes more effective and does not require correction.

Dispersible tablets "Amoxiclav" perfectly dissolve in water, tea or juice. As a result, the patient receives a drug suspension. For one tablet you need 1-2 glasses of liquid, but not less than 30 ml. Before use, the solution is thoroughly mixed. Dispersible tablets "Amoxiclav" can simply be resorbed in the oral cavity. Preliminary dissolution is not required.

Very convenient is the packaging of the drug. Tablets are placed in a blister with a system of simplified access. In other words, the drug will not need to be removed from the package. In one blister there are two tablets. This amount corresponds to the daily dosage.

"Nyz"

This effective medical product is familiar to many of us. Its use allows you to ease pain and relieve fever.

For today in a drugstore it is possible to meet dispersible tablets "Najz". Each of them contains 50 mg of active element - nimesulide. In a blister pack of 10 tablets.

The innovative agent must be dissolved in water before use. And one tablet takes 1 teaspoon of liquid.

It is especially convenient to give the dispersed preparation "Naise" to small patients.

Conclusion

Modern science has allowed each of us to undergo an effective course of treatment without resorting to injectable forms of pharmacological agents. The injection perfectly replace the dispersible tablets. In this case, the patient can be sure that he is taking a medicine that is not only pleasant to the taste, but also having very high efficiency, and also comfortable in use.