Sterile compounding pharmacies produce drugs, which have been customized by a specific medical professional such as a physician or pharmacist so that they meet the unique, individual requirements of a particular patient. There are various reasons why a medicine may be required to be compounded, from eliminating an ingredient, which could cause possible allergic reactions to changing the aggregation state or obtaining a drug with lower amounts of side effects. Today, as technology continues to evolve, compounding pharmacies are competing heavily in the medication market, and diverse pharmaceutical creations can be made through compounding medicines, including dermatological preparations, sterile intramural preparations created to manage pain, sterile injectables and opthalmics, hormonal preparations, wound care preparations and palatable pediatric preparations.
How Compound Medicines are Produced
The design and preparation of the compound medication is completed by a professional pharmacist in a sterile compounding pharmacy, who is capable of changing a medicine for various purposes. Once the design has been completed, these personalized medications can be used to help specific individuals. Most of the time, medications that are produced on a mass level can be useless to millions of individuals who have particular needs, which is where sterile compounding pharmacies emerged, helping people to achieve their health care needs. The categories of the population that are most commonly in need of sterile compounding pharmacies include those with severe allergies, hospitalized patients, elderly patients and those with multiple health problems.
The advantages of compounded Medicines
There are various benefits that compounded medicines can possess in comparison to more commercial or traditional medicines. As an example, people who suffer from severe swallowing disorders cannot always take the medicine that they need in the form of a tablet, and a sterile compounding pharmacy would be able to change the form of that medicine’s dosage, so that the patient may take a liquid solution or rectal suppository. Another advantage of compounded medicines is that they make it easier to combine several different drugs and compounds into one mix, producing a more efficient result.
Pharmacists can even use sterile compounding to make a medication that is no longer available to be accessed on the market, which is sometime essential in treating particular patients. When they have the right chemical compound available, an expert pharmacist can prepare a compounding medication.
Compounded medicines can be useful when it comes to treating patients that are highly sensitive, as they can be allergic to various ingredients within the medicine they need. If pharmacists know the substances, which are causing allergies, they can compound and create a medicine that has had those substances removed. Furthermore, medicines that have been customized to the needs of a particular patient are less likely to cause harmful or negative effects, as they are much more direct and accurate when it comes to addressing the patient’s problem. Often, different formulations of the medicine will be made available within a sterile compounding pharmacy, from creams, sprays and gels to capsules, tablets and injections. These different formulations can be used to more effectively combat diseases and disorders.
Pete Kontakos is a blogger that enjoys writing about health, fitness and sports. Pete invites you to follow him on Twitter or on his Examiner Sports page.