When it comes to packaging pharmaceutical products, choosing the right material is more than just something you take lightly. At the end of the day, your packaging choice will affect several aspects of the drug’s performance – from its intake to the dissemination of its constituent elements and so much more.
Today, most people who take drugs orally have to do so either via capsules or tablets. Both have pretty much become the standard for medicine intake, and pharmaceutical companies pretty much use them across the board.
However, which do you choose? There are several aspects of the capsule versus tablet debate, and we’ll look into them all in this article.
Capsules vs Tablets: What Are They?
First in the capsules vs tablets debate, let’s look into each option and what they offer:
The Classic Capsules
To begin with, let’s examine the question, “What are capsules”
In pharmacology, a capsule is a form of dosage that is used to administer medication. These capsules are usually built to hold and deliver therapeutic substances and drugs to patients, with their forms allowing the easy dissemination of medicines.
Capsule pills come in different forms and sizes, with different markings helping you to identify the medication and the strength of the dosage. You mostly find capsules being used to administer over-the-counter (OTC) medications, with their ease of administration and convenience being used as advantages.
Generally, here are a few features you get with a capsule pill.
Oral Medication Delivery
A capsule pill is mostly used for administering drugs orally. A patient simply swallows it, and it will disintegrate as soon as it enters their gastrointestinal tract. With this action, the medication is released and allowed to flow into the bloodstream.
Protective Coating
Just as well, capsule pills come with gelatinous shells that act as protective coatings for the drugs inside. This coating prevents the degradation of the drug or any alterations that could occur due to exposure to the elements.
Taste and Odor Masking
Capsules can also help to conceal the smell and taste of some drugs. For patients who have difficulty swallowing or who don’t like the smell and taste of medicines, capsules work quite well.
Controlled Release
Some capsules are designed for sustained release, allowing the medication to be released gradually over an extended period. This operation ensures for a more consistent therapeutic effect and will help to reduce dosing frequency.
Custom Formulations
Just as well, you can use a capsule to create a custom formulation that combines different drugs. Or, you could make adjustments to different dosages to meet the needs of the patient.
For instance, you can have a capsule pill that contains a combination of two different drugs in a single dosage.
All in all, patients need to follow the instructions provided by their doctors and healthcare professionals as they use capsules. Just as well, be on the lookout for possible allergies – especially with the gelatin coating.
It’s important for patients to follow the instructions provided by healthcare professionals or the medication label when taking medical capsules to ensure safe and effective use. Additionally, some individuals may have allergies or dietary restrictions that require them to avoid gelatin capsules, so alternative dosage forms should be considered when necessary.
Primary Components Of Capsules
When you look into the difference between tablets and capsules, one of the major areas where they tend to diverge is with their ingredients. For capsules, you primarily have two major components that work together:
Capsule Shell
This is the outer layer of the capsule itself, and it helps to protect the medication within. Typically, you find it is made of two materials:
- Gelatin Capsules: Capsules made of gelatin are the most popular type. They’re made from animal sources – mostly cows and pigs. These capsules are known for their ability to dissolve quickly in the gastrointestinal tract, making it easier for them to be absorbed.
- Vegetarian or Vegan Capsules: For people with dietary restrictions or allergies, some capsules are made with plant-based materials – such as hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) or cellulose. If you’re looking for a traditional capsule alternative, this material should work pretty well for you.
You should note that capsules effectively protect medications from environmental factors such as moisture and air exposure. This protection holds until the drug reaches the patient’s gastrointestinal tract, and once ingested, it dissolves entirely.
The medication is then allowed to be released into the bloodstream, where it is absorbed and able to perform its duty.
The shells are usually available in different colors and sizes, allowing you to easily mark a distinction between them and their strengths. Also, you might find alphanumeric codes as markings on some capsules that serve as a symbol of additional differentiation.
Active Ingredient
The active ingredient is the medication itself. The substance is kept within the capsule itself, and you can have it in the form of granules, a liquid, or a powder. Pharmacologists carefully measure this medication and fill it into the capsule shell at the right dosage.
So, are pills or liquid medicine better when you need to consider the active ingredient you’re working with? Generally, this will depend on you.
For the active ingredient, you generally have three forms:
- Powder Fill: For capsules with powdered active ingredients, this powder is filled loosely into the capsule. These ingredients are mostly used for drugs that are stable in solid form, as well as for custom drug formulations.
- Granule Fill: You can find capsules that are filled with granules – small, solid medication particles that can be used for patients who are sensitive to moisture or need to follow specific release characteristics.
- Liquid Fill: As the name suggests, a liquid-fill capsule contains a medication in liquid form. These capsules work for medications that don’t dissolve well in solid form, as well as for controlled-release formulations or drugs that specifically have to be administered in liquid form.
Exploring Tablets
Now that we understand what capsules are, let’s examine tablet pills and see how they work.
Like capsules, tablets are commonly used for oral dosage in the field of medicine. They are known for their flat and solid frame, as well as their rectangular frames that allow them to easily be swallowed.
Tablets consist of at least one active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), which will be molded in a solid form with the use of excipients. With their build, tablets are swallowed whole – or they can be crushed, chewed, or dissolved.
As you would imagine, tablets are versatile and convenient, allowing you to enjoy easy access to different medications – whether prescription drugs or over-the-counter medications. They are beneficial for their precision and ease of administration, which make them among the most trusted forms of medication delivery today.
A few critical characteristics you might want to notice when it comes to tablets include:
Solid Shape
A tablet is a solid dosage. You don’t get them in gel or liquid, and this form makes them ideal for oral consumption across the board since you get them in different shapes and sizes.
Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs)
As explained earlier, the primary function of a medical tab is to administer APIs to the patient. An API is a therapeutic substance that provides the needed medical effect, and its dissemination needs to be done rather swiftly.
Excipients
You can also find tablets containing excipients – active ingredients that are used to optimize the tablet’s properties. These can be binders, fillers, lubricants, and other active agents. With their help, tablets are able to achieve improved formation and stability while also releasing the drugs more effectively.
Dosage Form Variations
You can find a medical tablet that works in different forms. These include:
- Immediate-Release Tablets: As soon as these tablets are ingested, they immediately release the medication, offering speedy therapeutic effects.
- Extended-Release or Sustained-Release Tablets: These are pretty much the opposite of immediate-release tablets. Instead of releasing the meds quickly, they work more sustained, allowing you to get consistency in drug concentration
- Chewable Tablets: A chewable tablet is built to be chewed before it is swallowed. To make the process easier, many of them come in flavors.
- Effervescent Tablets: These are tablets that are designed to be taken while dissolved. The moment they come in contact with water, they produce a fizzy look and are dissolved pretty quickly.
- Sublingual or Buccal Tablets: You can either place these tablets under the gum (sublingual) or between the gum and cheeks (buccal). When in these positions, they are absorbed through your mucous membranes – instead of traditional tablets, which are absorbed by your digestive system.
Color and Markings
You will usually find tablets being color-coded. Some of them might also bear imprints and markings to help you identify the dosage strength. For healthcare professionals, a color capsule can help to ensure accurate administration of drugs.
Key Ingredients In A Traditional Tablet
You can find several major ingredients in pharmaceutical tablets. Each of them will serve a specific purpose as you focus on performance and formulation. Some of these ingredients include:
Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API)
We already pointed out the API and its use. This is the medical substance that is released into the bloodstream when you swallow the tablet.
Binders
A binder is an excipient that helps you to hold the ingredients in the tablet together. They ensure proper cohesion and prevent the tablet from breaking as you handle or store it. Some of the most common options here include starches, cellulose derivatives like microcrystalline cellulose, and povidone.
Fillers or Diluents
You add a diluent or filler to help optimize the volume of the tablet overall. This component ensures that the tablet you get comes in the right weight and size, and that you have everything you need from a volume perspective.
Disintegrants
Tablets add disintegrants to ensure that they break up quickly once you ingest them. With the presence of these components, you can rest assured that the tablet will immediately break as it comes in contact with the fluids in your gastrointestinal system.
Lubricants
The primary job of any lubricant is to reduce friction. In pharmaceutical tablets, these lubricants help to cut down on friction between the particles of the tablet and the surface of its press. So, you’ll find it easier to release the tablet from its mold.
Glidants
A glidant helps to improve a tablet’s flow properties as it is being manufactured. With this, you can ensure seamless ingredient distribution.
Colorants and Dyes
Pharmacologists require that tablets have specific appearances to aid their identification. As such, colorants are added to provide that aesthetic benefit across the board. With a color capsule, identification can be easier, and you can easily find what you’re looking for when searching for medication options.
Flavorings and Sweeteners:
For chewable tablets, these are important. They help ensure that the tablets are more palatable and that patients will have an easier time ingesting them.
Coating
These components are needed for film-coated tablets, and their job is to ensure that the medication’s taste can be properly hidden. They also improve overall stability and protect the medication from being released prematurely in the stomach.
Extended-Release Matrix
Every extended-release tablet comes with a matrix or coating that allows for a controlled release mechanism over an extended period. With an extended-release empty capsule, you get the benefits of having all of the ingredients, although they are being released in doses essentially.
From coatings to polymers, there are several ways to achieve this structure overall.
Generally, the combination and proportion of the ingredients will need to be carefully controlled in order to ensure that the tablet meets your specific requirements.
Capsules vs Tablets: Medicinal Considerations
With a clear understanding of both the capsule and the tablet pills, let’s begin looking into the tablet vs capsule comparison. And, the first thing you want to consider will be the medicinal factors that could essentially affect your choice.
On this front, healthcare professionals tend to work with patients to consider some of these factors:
Absorption and Bioavailability
Thanks to their ability to be absorbed quickly in the gastrointestinal tract, capsules offer a lot of benefits in terms of absorption and bioavailability. Their shells easily disintegrate, allowing the medication to be released quickly as you work through absorption.
As for tablets, dissolution rates tend to vary based on the formulations. Immediate-release tablets have no issues with being absorbed quickly, but extended-release tablets usually work slower.
Dosage Formulation
Capsules are capable of accommodating a broader range of dosage formulations across the board. With this flexibility, you can easily incorporate custom formulations and combine different active ingredients in a single capsule.
With tablets, you get formulations that usually come in solid dosage forms. Due to this, you might not have the same types of active ingredients or combinations.
Taste and Palatability
The intricate build of a capsule allows you to mask the smell and taste of medications. One of the many benefits of the shells they have is that your taste buds don’t maintain any form of contact with the medications. For patients who find the taste of drugs unpleasant, this can be incredibly important.
As for tablets, you might notice the taste that they bring. This is another major difference between capsules and tablet – although chewable tablets have helped to mitigate this by being more palatable.
Patient Preferences
In general, some patients prefer to have capsules because they’re easier to swallow. Capsules and their smooth shells are perfect for patients who have difficulty swallowing, as well as those who generally don’t like swallowing solid tablets.
On the other hand, tablets have the factor of familiarity going for them. For patients who are used to them, tablets work easily.
Specialized Formulations
You can usually find capsules being used for customized and compounded medications since they cover specific dosages and ingredient combinations.
Tablets can also be formulated with different matrices and coatings, allowing you to get the right type of release mechanism overall.
On the medication front, you want to consider the specific characteristics of the medication and your preferences. Healthcare professionals will be careful to walk you through the difference between capsule and tablet on this front to ensure that you get the most appropriate medication form.
Capsules vs Tablets: Dietary Supplements and Nutraceuticals
Moving on, you also need to understand the caps vs tabs comparison based on their compatibility with dietary supplements.
Today, supplements are a major market. People use them for different functions, and they definitely serve. However, if you’re looking to start taking supplements, you might want to consider whether to take them in the form of a tablet or a capsule.
Here are some important points that you might want to consider overall:
Ingredient Compatibility
As we already pointed out, capsules accommodate a broad range of ingredients. They work especially well for ingredients that are sensitive to moisture and air, but they are quite versatile overall.
The same can be said for tablets. However, in the tablet vs capsule debate on this front, you might notice that tablets are less suitable for substances that are more sensitive to moisture.
Vegetarian and Vegan-Friendly Options
Both tablets and capsules work pretty well when you need to consider vegan formulations. There isn’t much of a difference here, so pharmaceutical manufacturers definitely have a lot of leeway to work.
Taste and Ease of Swallowing
As we pointed out earlier, capsules tend to be easier to swallow overall. With their shells, they easily mask the smell and taste of the medications so they are easier to handle. If you go the tablet route, then you’d probably need to get chewable ones instead. They tend to be easier for patients who have issues swallowing, so be on the lookout for those.
Custom Formulations
For custom formulations, capsules are especially ideal. They work with precise dosages, as well as combinations of dietary ingredients.
For tablets, manufacturers can customize formulations to include specific dosages and ingredients. However, the formulations might not be as abundant as you’d get with capsules.
Marketing and Branding
Over the years, there has been a lot of work on the marketing front in terms of the acceptability of both tablets vs capsules. However, your choice based on this metric will most likely depend on what you’re comfortable with or more accustomed to.
Shelf Life and Stability
Finally, you want to make sure that the supplement you get is able to last as long as possible. And, once again, this is one aspect of the capsule vs tablet debate that capsules usually come up on top.
Thanks to their gelatin shell, capsules usually offer the best levels of protection against light and moisture. Overall, this contributes to the shelf life and stability of the supplements. While tablets can also be designed for long-term stability, they will also need proper storage and packaging to ensure that their ingredients’ integrity can be maintained as much as possible.
Capsules vs Tablets: Personal Preferences and Health Conditions
At the end of the day, your personal preference will play a major role in helping you to choose between a capsule or a tablet and, over the years, there have been several factors that have influenced personal preferences across the board as far as these two components are concerned.
Ease of Swallowing
Everyone wants to have drugs that they can easily swallow and that won’t be so challenging to deal with. So, when considering a doxycycline capsule vs tablet, you might want to look into this.
Generally, capsules tend to be easier to swallow. They are smooth, and their gelatinous shells and smaller sizes make them more easily handled. So, if you have difficulties swallowing large tablets, capsules are the obvious best option.
As for tablets, they can go down easily – although you’d need chewable tablets to do this instead.
Taste and Odor Sensitivity
As we’ve said, capsules are better suited to mask the smell and taste of your medication. So, for individuals who are sensitive to these, capsules are a much better option. This can’t necessarily be said for tablets, although there have been some interesting developments that have made tablets more palatable overall.
Dietary Restrictions and Preferences
Plant-based capsules are easily available for people who have dietary restrictions. Tablets can be formulated to be vegan-friendly as well, although the general availability of these formulations might vary quite a lot.
Gastrointestinal Sensitivity
One of the major reasons why people tend to pick between a capsule medication and a tablet pill is the fact that their digestive systems might be sensitive.
Generally, a capsule medication is seen as being gentler on the stomach. These pills dissolve quicker, thus reducing the risk of any possible irritation in your gastric system.
For talers, you also have varying results. People with sensitive digestive systems might not be able to tolerate some tablets, although certain tablets – such as those with extended-release formulations – might generally be gentler on their stomachs.
Medication or Supplement Specifics
Patients generally prefer capsules for medications that are prone to degradation from exposure to the elements. If you’re to choose a tablet, you might find that your selection will depend on the characteristics and formulations of the ingredients.
Custom Formulations
Both capsules and tablets can work well for custom formulations. With their unique build, they make it easy for manufacturers and pharmacologists to ensure precision with dosing and ingredient combinations across the board. At the end of the day, this is one of the major considerations when you’re considering a capsule or a tablet for your medication tab. Healthcare professionals and patients will need to consider all of these when choosing the right dosage material and form for a particular medication.
Capsules vs Tablets: Pros & Cons Of Each
So, we understand the different points in the capsules vs tablets debate. Let’s look into where each of them shines, as well as the areas where they might need a little bit of work.
Tablets:
Pros:
- Familiarity: The biggest benefit that tablets have going for them is the fact that we’re all familiar with them. Patients feel more comfortable with what they know, and this is where tablets get the edge.
- Ease of Manufacture: Generally, tablets are generally more cost-effective to produce – especially in large quantities.
- Diverse Formulations: You can formulate tablets in different ways, with each formulation sterling to a specific type of patient. This means that drug delivery can be much more flexible in general.
- Precise Dosage: Accuracy in dosage means that you can ensure consistent drug delivery with tablets.
Cons:
- Difficulty Swallowing: Everyone knows how difficult it is to swallow a regular tablet. From a user experience standpoint, they’re not quite the best.
- Taste and Odor: Most tablets also come with noticeable smells and tastes that patients generally don’t find to be pleasant.
- Absorption Time: There is no uniform absorption time when you’re dealing with tablets. This can cause a lot of confusion for many patients.
Capsules:
Pros:
- Ease of Swallowing: Thanks to their shells, capsules are usually easier to swallow.
- Masking Taste and Odor: You also get the benefit of being able to hide the taste and smell of the capsule. So, it is much easier to ingest.
- Vegetarian and Vegan Options: And, the presence of vegan-friendly options means that anyone can use a capsule. Your dietary restrictions don’t really matter here.
Cons:
- Dissolution Rate: In general, capsules tend to dissolve more quickly in your gastrointestinal tract. This means that the absorption of some medications can be affected significantly.
- Moisture Sensitivity: Some capsules can be a bit more sensitive to environmental conditions. This will affect their shelf life and can even reduce the potency of their ingredients.
- Availability: Finally, remember that not every medication is available in the capsule form.
How Do You Choose Between Capsules and Tablets?
At the end of the day, your choice between capsules and tablets will generally depend on several factors. And, understanding how these factors come into play should help you make a better decision overall.
Medication or Supplement Characteristics
You need to examine the nature of the medication itself. Do you need something liquid? Then a capsule will work for you. Other factors here include sensitivity to light, air, or moisture, the strength of the odor and taste, and any release requirements.
Dosage Formulation
Choose if the medication is available in both forms. Sometimes, you might find that some medications are only available in specific dosages.
Dietary Restrictions and Preferences
If you have any dietary restrictions, then you can check if you have tablets or capsules available that fit your needs. Capsules tend to be more flexible in this regard, but watch out for possible tablet formulations that work for you too.
Ease of Swallowing
Capsules are usually easier to swallow. So, for people with difficulty swallowing, this will usually be the right choice. Nevertheless, consulting with your healthcare agent should help you understand what you need better.
Taste and Odor Sensitivity
As we pointed out, there are several people who dislike the smell and taste of medications. For these people, capsules will most likely be the right option. However, you might also find chewable tablets to be a viable option if this is a major concern for you.
Gastrointestinal Sensitivity
Got a sensitive digestive system? Well, you’re not alone. Consider your sensitivities when choosing between a dropping tablet and a capsule supply. As long as an option is less likely to cause any discomfort, you should be good to go.
Presence Of Custom Formulations
If you need a specific combination of ingredients or a custom formulation, then ask your pharmacist if a capsule or a tablet will be able to easily meet your needs.
Personal Preferences
You shouldn’t neglect your preferences as well. Some people love the fact that capsules are easier to swallow, while others appreciate tablets because they are more used to them.
Discuss with Your Healthcare Provider
When you finish considering all of these, you can have a discussion with your healthcare service provider to finally iron out what you need to do going forward. They will be able to guide you on how best to make a choice that is appropriate for your specific condition.
Conclusion
Tablets and capsules have become the industry standard when it comes to dosage variants. And, it’s easy to see why they have become so popular. However, when making a choice, you need to ensure that you have the right option as it will play a major role in your ability to take in your medication.
If you need any additional help, feel free to reach out to us at SaintyCo. We’d be more than happy to help you out.