Powders VS Tablets

Powder
Powders are intimate mixtures of dry, finely divided drugs and or chemical that may be
intended for internal or external use (e. g. external applications to the skin). Powder are the
simplest dosage forms and the basis of many other solid dosage forms , powder were originally
designed as a convenient mode of administering hard vegetable drugs such as roots, bark and
woods. Powder dosage forms are versatile flexible in dosage strength relatively stable and also
convenient to manufacture, store, handle and use. It is possible to reduce them to desired
particle size and thus facilitate rapid absorption. Thus from biopharmaceutical consideration
powder are convenient and useful for prescribing drugs. Advantage: 1)Good chemical stability
compared with fluids. 2) Useful for bulky drugs with large dose, e. g. indigestion powder. 3)
Easy to swallow even in large bulk, especially if mixed with drink food (useful for stomach-tube
feeding). 4)The smaller particle size of powders causes more rapid dissolution in body fluids,
increases drug bioavailability, and decreases gastric irritation compared with tablets.
Disadvantage: 1)Not suitable for drugs unstable in atmospheric conditions. 2)Not suitable for
bitter, nauseating , delinquent and corrosive drugs. 3) Inaccuracy of dose in case of bulk
powder. 4) Inconvenient to carry.
Tablet
A tablet is a pharmaceutical oral dosage form or solid unit dosage form. Tablets may be
defined as the solid unit dosage form of medicament or medicaments with suitable excipients.
It comprises a mixture of active substances and excipients, usually in powder form, pressed or
compacted from a powder into a solid dose. Tablets are often stamped with symbols, letters,
and numbers, which enable them to be identified. Sizes of tablets to be swallowed range from a
few millimetres to about a centimetre . Advantages and disadvantages: Tablets are simple and
convenient to use. They provide an accurately measured dosage of the active ingredient in a
convenient portable package, and can be designed to protect unstable medications or disguise
unpalatable ingredients. Some drugs may be unsuitable for administration by the oral route.
For example, protein drugs such as insulin may be denatured by stomach acids. Some drugs
may be deactivated by the liver when they are carried there from the gastrointestinal tract by
the hepatic portal vein (the "first pass effect"), making them unsuitable for oral use. Drugs
which can be taken sublingually are absorbed through the oral mucosa, so that they bypass the
liver and are less susceptible to the first pass effect. The oral bioavailability of some drugs may
be low due to poor absorption from the gastrointestinal tract.