Will gelatin capsules affect my health?

The medicinal gelatin hollow capsule is a medicinal shell made of gelatin as a raw material, used to pack medicine for the convenience of the patient to swallow, and a medicinal excipient that can be swallowed together with the medicine inside. Gelatin capsules have a bright appearance, can mask the peculiar smell of drugs, are easy to swallow, have good disintegration ability, and have a long shelf life. They are very popular among consumers. However, with the in-depth application of gelatin capsules and the improvement of people's requirements, their shortcomings have become more and more prominent. What are the specific side effects of gelatin hollow capsules?

Gelatin has good physical and chemical properties, but the disadvantages of gelatin capsules should not be underestimated. For example, as an animal-derived preparation, there is a risk of spreading mad cow disease (BSE); it cannot be accepted by some special cultures (Jews, halal Muslims) or vegetarians; it is prone to cross-linking with certain substances; heavy metals, preservatives and bacteriostatic agents Easy to exceed the standard and so on. At present, the society generally believes that the main cause of the disease of gelatin capsules is the excessive chromium. It is also a semi-open secret of the gelatin industry that illegal enterprises mix industrial gelatin into edible gelatin and sell it to food and pharmaceutical processing companies. Chromium is a blue-white multivalent metal element, the common ones are divalent chromium, trivalent chromium and hexavalent chromium. It is hard, brittle, and corrosion resistant, so it is mostly used in stainless steel and other products. At the same time, chromium is also a trace element necessary for the human body, but excessive intake of chromium causes great harm to the human body. Its toxicity is related to the existence of valence. Among them, the toxicity of divalent chromium is very slight, while the toxicity of trivalent chromium is very low in the human body. It's easy to show up. If we take the poison capsule for a long time and take in trivalent chromium, on the one hand, it will affect the antioxidant system of our body, and it is easy to get some chronic oxidative diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension; on the other hand, due to the antioxidant system After being damaged, it is prone to diseases such as tumors.

Compared with trivalent chromium, hexavalent chromium is more toxic, about 100 times that of trivalent chromium. Clinically, the harm of hexavalent chromium and its compounds to the human body is usually manifested in three aspects. The first is damage to the skin, leading to dermatitis, pharyngitis, etc.; the second is damage to the respiratory system, causing pneumonia, bronchitis and other diseases; the third is damage to the digestive system, accidental ingestion or even long-term exposure to chromate can easily cause gastritis, gastric ulcer and intestinal tract ulcer. Excessive intake of hexavalent chromium can lead to kidney failure and even cancer in severe cases.

If you keep in contact with these high-priced chromium ions for a long time, on the one hand, it may damage the function of the renal tubules, which can be confirmed in animal studies. On the other hand, it can lead to the occurrence of tumors, especially malignancies such as lung cancer and esophageal cancer. Tumors are also related to the long-term intake of chromium ions. In addition, long-term accumulation of chromium in the human body may induce genetic mutations in the human body.

As we all know, the most effective way to eliminate fires is to detect hidden fire hazards in advance and prevent disasters from occurring. Because once a disaster occurs, no matter how much manpower and material resources are mobilized, the loss is basically inevitable, and there is no need to calculate other social costs incurred. Why is it not necessary to supervise food and drug safety? At present, there are frequent problems of chromium-excessive capsules. In fact, the problem lies in the fact that our proactive actions to find hidden dangers and discover signs are far from enough. Experts call for replacing animal gelatin with vegetable gelatin to ensure the safety of capsule medicines and food from the source, which is the safe way for capsule preparations.