Galenic preparations

The Galenic word derives from the name of Claudio Galeno, a physician from ancient Greece who, between the second and third centuries AD, used numerous medicinal herbs or extracts thereof as drugs.

In Galen the practice of composing medical remedies is mixed, mixing various substances at appropriate concentrations, probably adapting them to the individual patient. The term galenic preparations still lives today to indicate those medicinal forms by which the active ingredients can be administered. The adjective galenic, according to its traditional meaning, is therefore used in compliance with any medicinal preparation, regardless of the place of production (pharmacy or industry) or the pharmaceutical form (extract, tincture, infusion etc.). In phytogalenic, the medicinal forms are multiple; the most used are the whole drug, the shredded drug, the powdered drug, the infusions, the extracts, the dyes, the distillates, the ointments and the liniments.

Unlike what happened up until a couple of centuries ago, today most of the galenic preparations are on the market ready for use, and as such are appreciated for their practicality and for the rigorous quality controls they undergo. The galenic preparations produced by the pharmacist on the instructions of the attending physician are rather marginal; in this case we speak of masterly galenic preparations ; when, on the other hand, the pharmacist produces these medicines in his workshop according to the formulas prescribed by the official pharmacopoeia, and marketing them under the same name, we speak of galenic medicinal preparations . Today, however, we tend to attribute the term galenic to the preparations performed directly by the pharmacist according to medical prescription (a galenic recipe ).

Galenics: medicines prepared in pharmacies.

Officinal galenics or medicinal formulas: medicines prepared in pharmacies according to the indications of the European Pharmacopoeia or the Official Pharmacopoeia of the Italian Republic, intended to be supplied directly to patients. Depending on the type of substances present in the formulation, officinal galenic preparations - as well as medicines of industrial origin - can be dispensed with or without a prescription.

Magistral galenics or magisterial formulas: medicines prepared on the basis of a medical prescription for a specific subject.