week 8

• Pharmacology


  The branch of medicine concerned with the uses, effects, and modes of action of drugs
• Drug


  A chemically defined agent that can be used to provoke a measurable response in a biological system
• Types of drugs


  • Therapeutic
  • Abused
• Therapeutics


  The medicinal use of drugs, how drugs can be used as remedies for diseases and to ameliorate symptoms
• Pharmacy


  The science or practice of the preparation and dispensing of medicinal drugs
• Phytotherapy

  The use of plant-derived medications in the treatment and prevention of disease
• Pharmacognosy


  The study of plants and other natural substances as possible sources of drugs
• Toxicology


  The study of the toxic effects of drugs, actions of poisons, and unwanted effects of therapeutic drugs that are hazardous
• Pharmacodynamics


  What a drug does to an organism - the sum of all actions of a drug
• Pharmacokinetics


  What the organism does to a drug - absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion
• Pharmacokinetics


  1. Absorption

  2. Distribution

  3. Metabolism

  4. Excretion
• Routes of administration


  • Inhalational
  • Intraarterial
  • Intradermal
  • Intramuscular
  • Intrathecal
  • Intravaginal
  • Intravenous
  • Nasal
  • Oral
  • Rectal
  • Subcutaneous
  • Sublingual
  • Topical
  • Transcutaneous
• Factors influencing drug absorption and speed

  • Chemical properties of the drug (molecular size, lipid solubility, ionization)
  • Routes of administration
  • Properties of the subject/patient (fat/thin, fed/empty, healthy/infirm, young/old)
• Bioavailability


  How much of a drug gets to the cells where it is to work
• Receptor


  Endogenous proteins that are the receptors for endogenous chemical signalling compounds like hormones or neurotransmitters
• Agonist


  Drugs that occupy receptors and activate them
• Antagonist


  Drugs that occupy receptors but do not activate them
• Affinity


  Ability of a drug to combine with the receptor
• Intrinsic activity (efficacy)

  Capacity of a drug-receptor complex to produce an action
• Emax (maximum effect)

  The maximum response (effect) the drug can produce
• EC50

  The Molar concentration of a drug that produces 50% of the maximum response for that drug
• Potency

  The concentration at which a drug is effective, can be quantified using the EC50
• Therapeutic Index (TI)

  Index of safety, ratio of toxic dose to effective dose
• Side effects (adverse reactions)

  Unwanted undesirable effects that are possibly related to a drug, can vary from minor to life-threatening
• Contraindications

  Specific situations in which a drug, procedure, or surgery should not be used because it may be harmful
• Relative contraindication

  Caution should be used when two drugs or procedures are used together, but it is acceptable if the benefits outweigh the risk
• Absolute contraindication

  An event or substance could cause a life-threatening situation, the procedure or medicine must be avoided
• Hypertension

  • High blood pressure, symptoms, consequences
• Asthma

  • Symptoms include shortness of breath, chest tightness or pain, wheezing when exhaling
• With reference to hypertension and asthma, drugs used to treat different diseases can cause complications
• Side effects (adverse reactions)

  • Palpitations, irregular heartbeats
  • Hives
  • Nausea and vomiting
  • Rash
  • Rare
  • Black urine (metronidazole)
  • Blot clots (AstraZeneca)
  • Dry cough
  • Cancer
  • Arrhythmia
  • Birth defects
  • Parkinson's disease
  • Hallucinations
• Side effects

  Unwanted undesirable effects that are possibly related to a drug. Can vary from minor problems (e.g. headache) to life-threatening events (e.g. liver damage)
• Contraindications

  Specific situation in which a drug, procedure, or surgery should not be used because it may be harmful to the person
• Relative contraindication

  Caution should be used when two drugs or procedures are used together. It is acceptable to do so if the benefits outweigh the risk
• Absolute contraindication

  Event or substance could cause a life-threatening situation. A procedure or medicine that falls under this category must be avoided
• Hypertension

  High blood pressure (blood pressure that is higher than normal)
• Hypertension symptoms

  • No symptoms listed
• Hypertension consequences


  No consequences listed
• Asthma symptoms

  • Shortness of breath
  • Chest tightness or pain
  • Wheezing when exhaling, which is a common sign of asthma in children
  • Trouble sleeping caused by shortness of breath, coughing or wheezing
  • Coughing or wheezing attacks that are worsened by a respiratory virus, such as a cold or the flu
• Asthma


  Condition in which your airways narrow and swell and may produce extra mucus