Week 10 - pharmacology

• Drug sources


  • Animal
  • plants
• Drugs


  Substances that affect body functioning
• Drug names


  • Chemical name
  • Generic name
  • Trade name
• Chemical name


  Description of the chemical composition of the drug
• Generic name


  Abbreviated and approved name given to a drug by the manufacturer or developer
• Trade name


  Name selected by the company selling the drug
• Drug administration routes


  • enteral
  • sublingual & buccal
  • parental
• Adverse drug reactions


  Hypersensitivity, drug interactions, contraindications, drug toxicity
• Drug hypersensitivity


  Exaggerated response of the body's immune system to a drug, perceived as an allergic reaction
• Pharmacodynamics


  Study of how drugs affect the body - the mode of drug action
• Molecular targets of drugs

  • Proteins
  • Carrier proteins
  • Ion channels
  • Enzymes
  • Receptors
  • DNA
• Pharmacokinetics


  Study of how the body affects the drug - absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion
• Therapeutic range


  The range of drug concentration that has a high probability of producing the desired therapeutic effect without causing toxicity
• Drug half-life


  The time taken for the drug concentration to be reduced by 50% from its initial value
• Drug half-life tells us how quickly a drug is being eliminated from the plasma and how often we need to administer the drug to maintain the therapeutic range