Crushing Tablets For Easy Swallowing

Crushing Tablets For Easy Swallowing

NEW DELHI: Crushing tablets can make them easier to swallow but it can
have a serious, even potentially fatal, effect on your health.
According to experts, over 80% of people have a habit of crushing tablets to
help patients, especially children and the elderly, take their medicines.

However, doctors say the trend is alarming and dangerous. Not only does
crushing pills alter the effect of the drug, it can also affect the way the drug
is released or absorbed, possibly causing serious side effects.

Several pills have special protective coating that ensures the drug does not
touch the inner walls of the stomach but directly passes into the intestine
after being swallowed. Crushing these pills heightens chances of gastric
injury leading to bleeding from the intestine.

Experts also warn that some medicines, including the anti-diabetic drug
Metformin, are meant for sustained release, spread over 24 hours. Crushing
them would result in limiting their long-lasting action, putting the patient at
risk.

Drug expert Dr C M Gulati said, "A tablet isn't just made of the drug. It
contains both binding agents and other chemicals. The drug is also not
uniformly spread across the tablet. Therefore a patient would rarely know
whether both halves have equal amount of the drug."

Dr Gulati said most patients who crush the tablet mix it with juice or milk.
This could result in interaction between the drug and liquid. Drugs that aren't
scored (lined from the centre), should not be crushed under any
circumstance, he said, and added, "It's a misconception that breaking a tablet
into two lowers its strength."

It is estimated that 60% of older people have trouble swallowing pills. As a
result, some of them, or their care-givers, crush the pills. That's why an
estimated 75 million prescriptions a year are associated with adverse drug
reactions.

2. US-bound grads' wait gets shorter: The Times of India

New Delhi, Nov 09: The recent move by US universities to accept the three-year
bachelor’s degrees for admission to their graduate schools comes as a breather for
thousands of foreign aspirants in India.

For those having 15 years of formal education and aspiring to grab the much-coveted seat
in one of the US varsities in forthcoming session beginning in August-October, it’s time
to pull up socks to meet the deadline in December. However, there are few universities in
which you can still apply till February.

The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS), professional body of colleges stated in a report
that there is greater acceptance of three-year undergraduate degrees from many countries
in the world including India. "The non-acceptance of three-year degree programs for
admission to graduate schools was a major hurdle for Indian students attending three-year
degree colleges in India. The latest report from CGS encourages a good number of
college students in India to consider US higher education," said Vijaya Khandavilli,
country co-ordinator, educational advising services, US Educational Foundation in India
(USEFI).
She added: ‘‘USEFI advisers have been told by the faculty and deans of graduate schools
in the US that Indian students with only three years of college experience did as well as
the US students with four years of college study. This may also have been one of the
reasons for the changed stance.’’ So far, for getting into a graduate school in US, one
needed 16 years of formal education (12 plus 4), which meant that Indian students were
required to study for another year after their graduation before they could sit for GRE or
GMAT for entry into US universities.

And many took admissions either in courses which had no fruitful bearings in their career
or had invested a good sum of money in any unrecognised private university just for a
degree or diploma to meet the requirement of 16 years.

"Graduates aspiring to go abroad will have an easier life as this recent change in the
admission policy will facilitate them to achieve their dreams faster," felt S K Tandon, pro
vice-chancellor, Delhi University. "This is a welcome move, but should have been
implemented a year back as I already invested a few thousands in Amity University for a
diploma in mass communication to complete 16 years of education," said Jyoti, aspiring
to pursue English in California University