Prescription and over the counter (OTC) medicines are made up of many ingredients. The part of the medicine that makes it work is known as the active ingredient, but inactive ingredients or ‘excipients’ are also added.
Different medicines contain different excipients. See below: How to find out which excipients are in your medicines.
Excipients are added to medicines for different reasons, such as:
- To improve the taste – sugar, artificial sweeteners or flavouring may be added to make them taste better.
- To improve the texture – thickening agents may be added to make liquid medicines easier to pour.
- To dissolve the medicine – small amounts of ethanol (alcohol) may be used to help dissolve a liquid into a liquid form.
- To make them easier to handle – powders or fillers can be used to make tablets large enough to handle, if the amount of active ingredient is very small.
- To make them work better – extra ingredients may be added to tablets to help them break down properly in the stomach.
- To make them last longer – preservatives might be added to improve the shelf-life of a medicine.
If you need to avoid any excipients, tell your pharmacist when you are starting a new medicine or brand. Different brands of the same medicine may use different excipients, especially preservatives and colourants, so there could be another option available. |