Antibiotics and Other medicines

• How do antibiotics work?


  By inhibiting processes in bacterial cells but not in the host organism
• Give one example of how some antibiotics inhibit processes?


  For example, some antibiotics inhibit the building of bacterial cell walls- this prevents the bacteria from dividing and eventually kills them
• Why can't you use antibiotics to treat a virus?

  viruses are surrounded by a protective protein coating; they don't have cell walls that can be attacked by antibiotics like bacteria does.
• What are the two main stages in drug development?


  Clinical and Pre-Clinical
• Pre-Clinical Testing


  1 . Drugs are first tested on human cells and tissues

  2 . Test drug on live animals , to see if the drug works, how toxic it is and the best dosage
• Clinical Testing.


  1 . If the drug passes test then its tested on human volunteers,

  2 . The drug is tested on people with the illness

  3 . Patients are put into two groups , one is given drug other is given placebo.

  4 . Approved by medical agency to be able to be used
• Why is the drug in clinical testing tested on healthy human volunteers?


  to see if there is any harmful side effects when the body is working
• Why is the drug tested on people with the illness?


  To find the optimum dose
• What is the optimum dose?


  The dose of drug that is the most effective and has the fewest side effects
• What is the placebo effect


  When the patient expects the treatment to work and so feels better even though the treatment isn't doing anything
• Clinical trials are double blind neither the doctor nor the patient knows whether they're getting the placebo or drug
• Why are clinical trials double blind?


  This is so the doctors monitoring the trial aren't subconsciously influenced by their knowledge