Pill

A pill is a small, round, solid pharmaceutical oral dosage form that was in use before the advent of tablets and capsules. Pills were made by mixing the active ingredients with an excipient such as glucose syrup in a mortar and pestle to form a paste, then rolling the mass into a long cylindrical shape (called a "pipe"), and dividing it into equal portions, which were then rolled into balls, and often coated with sugar to make them more palatable.^[1]

In colloquial usage, tablets, capsules, and caplets are still often referred to as "pills" collectively.

See also

• Pharmaceutical formulation
• Pill splitting
• Capsule (pharmacy)

References

1. ^ 1918 US dispensatory article

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Pills

• Duke University History of Medicine collections
• Pills and pill-making - Museum of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain

v d e Routes of administration / Dosage forms Oral Digestive tract (enteral) Solids Pill Tablet Capsule Time release technology Osmotic controlled release capsule (OROS) Liquids Solution Softgel Suspension Emulsion Syrup Elixir Tincture Hydrogel Buccal / Sublabial / Sublingual Solids Orally Disintegrating Tablet (ODT) Film Lollipop Lozenges Chewing gum Liquids Mouthwash Toothpaste Ointment Oral spray Respiratory tract Solids Smoking device Dry Powder Inhaler (DPI) Liquids pressurized Metered Dose Inhaler (pMDI) Nebulizer Vaporizer Gas Oxygen mask Oxygen concentrator Anaesthetic machine Relative analgesia machine Ocular / Otologic / Nasal Nasal spray Ear drops Eye drops Ointment Hydrogel Nanosphere suspension Mucoadhesive microdisc (microsphere tablet) Urogenital Ointment Pessary (vaginal suppository) Vaginal ring Vaginal douche Intrauterine device (IUD) Extra-amniotic infusion Intravesical infusion Rectal (enteral) Ointment Suppository Enema Solution Hydrogel Murphy drip Nutrient enema Dermal Ointment Liniment Paste Film Hydrogel Liposomes Transfersome vesicles Cream Lotion Lip balm Medicated shampoo Dermal patch Transdermal patch Transdermal spray Jet injector Injection / Infusion (into tissue/blood) Skin Intradermal Subcutaneous Transdermal implant Organs Intracavernous Intravitreal Intra-articular or intrasynovial injection Transscleral Central nervous system Intracerebral Intrathecal Epidural Circulatory / Musculoskeletal Intravenous Intracardiac Intramuscular Intraosseous Intraperitoneal Nanocell injection Additional explanation: Mucous membranes are used by the human body to absorb the dosage for all routes of administration, except for "Dermal" and "Injection/Infusion". Administration routes can also be grouped as Topical (local effect) or Systemic (defined as Enteral = Digestive tract/Rectal, or Parenteral = All other routes).

This pharmacology-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v d e