Honey Pills
Water Pills, Water Honey Pills
Concentrated Pills
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Dosage Form Popularization
Traditional Chinese Medicine Preparations
Definition from Ancient Texts
EXPLANATION OF DOSAGE
Pills are one of the main traditional dosage forms in TCM, widely used from ancient times to the present. As stated in the “Shennong Bencao Jing (Shennong’s Classic of Materia Medica)”: “The properties of medicines are suitable for pills.” The “Jinkui Yaolue (Golden Chamber of Medicine)” Volume One states: “Pills can expel wind and cold, break accumulations, and dissolve various hard masses.” The “Su Shen Liang Fang (Su Shen’s Good Prescriptions)” Volume One also states: “For those with great toxicity, pills must be used.” The “Tangye Bencao (Tangye’s Materia Medica) – Mr. Dongyuan’s Method of Using Medicine” Volume One mentions: “Pills are slow to act and cannot be quickly eliminated. This indicates the intention of using medicine to treat gradually.” This shows that compared to decoctions, pills have the advantages of slow disintegration and absorption, prolonged medicinal effects, saving medicinal materials, and being easy to take, carry, and store.
Modern Definition
EXPLANATION OF DOSAGE
Pills, commonly known as pill medicine, are solid dosage forms shaped into spheres or similar shapes by grinding medicinal materials into fine powder or using extracts with suitable binders or other excipients.
Modern common pills can be roughly divided into four types based on manufacturing processes: honey pills, water pills, water honey pills, and concentrated pills. Patients often find it difficult to choose among them, not knowing the differences and respective advantages and disadvantages.
Today, we will take a detailed look at the differences between honey pills, water pills, water honey pills, and concentrated pills.
PART 1
Types
KIND INTRODUCTION
·Honey Pills·
Honey pills, as the name suggests, are pills made using honey as a binder. Pills weighing over 0.5g are called large honey pills, while those weighing under 0.5g are called small honey pills. TCM believes that honey is sweet and neutral, entering the lung, spleen, and large intestine meridians, with nourishing, tonifying, and moistening effects, acting gently. Generally, tonic medicines, pediatric medicines, precious medicines, and those containing easily volatile components are often made into honey pills.
·Water Pills·
Water pills refer to pills made from finely powdered medicinal materials using water (or other binders such as yellow wine, vinegar, diluted medicinal juice, syrup, etc.). Water pills developed from decoctions and are also called water-fan pills.
·Water Honey Pills·
Water honey pills are made by using water to refine honey for binding the medicinal powder, saving on honey costs. The main difference between water honey pills and large honey pills is the binder used. These pills, made with refined honey and water as binders, are easy to swallow and store. Compared to large honey pills, water honey pills contain less honey, making them suitable for those who need to control blood sugar.
·Concentrated Pills·
Concentrated pills are made from the decoction or extract of medicinal materials, concentrated into a paste, combined with suitable excipients or powdered medicinal materials. Depending on the binder used, concentrated pills can be further divided into concentrated water pills, concentrated honey pills, and concentrated water honey pills.
PART 2
Comparison of Advantages and Disadvantages
COMPARE
Honey Pills
Advantages:Soft texture, gentle and lasting medicinal properties, stable disintegration, with tonifying and flavor-correcting effects. Easy to store with a long shelf life.
Disadvantages:Poor taste when chewed, inconvenient to cut into small pieces for consumption, and easily contaminated.
Water Pills
Advantages:Pills are small and easy to take, do not absorb moisture, easy to store, layered water pills improve ingredient stability, dissolve quickly for rapid absorption, and are simple to produce.
Disadvantages:Uniformity of the medicine during production and disintegration time is difficult to control.
Water Honey Pills
Advantages:High production efficiency, easy to swallow, easy to store, with less honey content, making them more suitable for those who need to control blood sugar.
Disadvantages:Medicinal properties are not as gentle as honey pills, and disintegration is not as stable and lasting as honey pills.
Concentrated Pills
Advantages:Medicinal components are concentrated, requiring less dosage, easy to swallow, easy to absorb, beneficial for storage, and not prone to mold.
Disadvantages:Processing and heating are complicated, requiring attention to medicinal stability, and the price is relatively high.
PART 3
Usage Comparison
USAGE
01Honey Pills
Tonic medicines, pediatric medicines, precious medicines, and those containing easily volatile components are often made into honey pills; commonly used for chronic disease treatment and weakness-related diseases, such as Liuwei Dihuang Wan (Six-Ingredient Rehmannia Pill – Small Honey Pills), Angong Niuhuang Wan (Angong Cow Yellow Pill – Large Honey Pills), etc.
Water Pills 02
Commonly used for qi-tonifying and blood-tonifying medicines, effective for treating chronic gastric diseases, diabetes, kidney diseases, liver diseases, etc., such as Xiongdan Jiuxin Wan (Bear Gallbladder Heart-Saving Pill).
03Water Honey Pills
Commonly used for tonifying medicines, such as Shihu Yeguang Wan (Dendrobium Night-Glow Pill).
Concentrated Pills 04
More suitable for middle-aged or elderly individuals with good constitution, used for treating chronic diseases with large dosages and good absorption, such as Gui Fu Dihuang Wan (Cinnamon and Atractylodes Rehmannia Pill).
PART 4
How to Choose?
HOW TO CHOOSE THE OPTION?
Selection Principles
Although honey pills, water pills, water honey pills, and concentrated pills each have their characteristics, they do not affect the efficacy of the medicine. If it is the same prescription, the therapeutic effect is the same. Ultimately, the choice depends on individual needs. If one can accept the taste of Chinese medicine and can chew, then large honey pills should be chosen, as they dissolve quickly when chewed and have a gentle effect; if one cannot get used to the taste of Chinese medicine, then water pills and water honey pills should be chosen; if economic conditions allow, or if one wants to take a smaller dosage, then concentrated pills should be chosen. For diabetic patients, it is best to choose water honey pills or concentrated pills to prevent significant fluctuations in blood sugar due to the honey in honey pills.
-END-
Guangdong Provincial Pharmaceutical Association Science and Technology Service Station
Pharmacy Department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University
References
[1] Yang Jin, Ma Baorui, Gao Zengping, et al. Research Progress on the Preparation Process and In Vivo and In Vitro Evaluation of Traditional Chinese Medicine Micro-Pills [J]. Chinese Pharmacist, 2021.
[2] Yang Yujie, Zhu Ping. Research on the Current Status and Development of Hospital Preparations Based on the Preparation Process of Traditional Chinese Medicine Large Honey Pills [J]. Chinese Ethnic and Folk Medicine, 2022, 31(20):5.
[3] Wang Yanhong, Zhang Lina, Xing Xiang, et al. Research Progress on Traditional Chinese Medicine Concentrated Pills [J]. Chinese Modern Applied Pharmacy, 2021, 38(17):5.
Note: The images in this article are sourced from the internet, and we thank the authors of the images!
Article: First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Zou Jiayu
First Review: First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Lin Lan
Second Review: First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Jiang Guojie
Layout: First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Luo Wei
