Medicine Facts: The line in the middle of the tablet is not a design, but a score line, know the correct rule to break it.

News India Live, Digital Desk: Often you must have seen that some medicines have a straight line right in the middle of their tablets. Many people think of it as just a design, but it has a special purpose in medical science. This line is called ‘Score Line’ in technical language. According to Dr. Sunil Rana, expert of Asian Hospital, this line is related to patient safety and accurate dosage. Let us know the complete science behind it. Why is ‘score line’ made? This line made on the tablet is mainly to break the medicine into two equal parts. The main reasons behind this are as follows: Accurate Dosage: Many times the doctor advises the patient to take half the pill instead of the whole pill (like 250mg instead of 500mg). With the help of the score line, the pill can be divided evenly right from the middle without breaking it. Patient’s convenience: It is sometimes difficult for the elderly or children to swallow the whole pill, in such a situation, the dose can be managed by halving it with the help of the line. Caution! Do not break the tablets which do not have lines on them. According to doctors, breaking and eating every tablet can be dangerous. If there is no score line on a pill, it simply means that it has to be swallowed whole. There are two main technical reasons behind this: Sustained Release: Some medicines are made to dissolve slowly in the body. Breaking them can release the entire medicine at once, which can be fatal for the body. Enteric Coated: Some pills have a special coating so that they dissolve directly in the intestines instead of the stomach. When broken, this coating gets damaged and the effect of the medicine can be lost or changed. Expert’s warning: Risk of side effects. Forcefully breaking a pill without a score line and consuming it can disturb its chemical balance. This not only reduces the effect of the medicine, but also increases the risk of side effects. If the medicine is not given in the right quantity, the patient does not get full benefit from the disease.