In addition to being used to package drugs, capsules have the following functions:
　
Capsules are a well-known pharmaceutical dosage form. The empty capsules are cylindrical and are mainly made of bone gelatin made of bone energy or pig skin gelatin made of pig skin.




　
1. Capsules can conceal the bitter taste and odor of the medicine, and eliminate the unpleasant experience of the patient when taking it. For example, most antibiotics are bitter. Among them, the bitter taste of chloramphenicol is well-known. If the powder is taken orally, most patients cannot bear it.
　　
2. Some drugs are easily destroyed in the stomach or have strong irritation to the stomach. They are often made into enteric-coated capsules to ensure that the capsules dissolve in the alkaline duodenum. If the capsule is peeled and swallowed, it will reduce or even lose its efficacy, increase the irritation to the stomach, and even cause stomach bleeding.
　　
3. The medicine in the capsule has a prescribed dosage, and it is easy to lose the medicine powder after peeling it, resulting in inaccurate dosage, which is not conducive to treatment.
　　
4. Some capsules are sustained-release capsules and must be swallowed intact to release the medicine in a balanced dose and exert the best effect. If the capsule is peeled off and the medicine is poured out and taken, the sustained-release characteristics of the capsule will be destroyed and the purpose of sustained-release will not be achieved.
　　
It can be seen that the capsules should not be taken apart. If the patient really has difficulty in taking capsule drugs, normal capsules can be stripped for taking, but enteric-coated capsules and sustained-release capsules should never be stripped for taking.