251 Pharmacology Study Cards - Up to Antiparkisonian Flashcards
What is an additive effect?
Drug interactions in which the effect of a combination of two or more drugs with similar actions, administered at the same time, is the action of one plus the action of the other, with the total effect of both drugs being given (compare with synergistic effects).
What is an adverse drug event?
Any undesirable occurrence as a result of administering or failing to administer a prescribed medication.
What is an adverse drug reaction?
Any unexpected, unintended, undesired, or excessive response to a medication given at therapeutic dosages
What is included in a drug profile?
- any and all drug use, including home or folk remedies and herbal or homeopathic treatments, plant or animal extracts, and dietary supplements;
- intake of alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine;
- current or past history of illegal drug use;
- use of over-the-counter medications;
- use of hormonal drugs;
- past and present health history and associated drug regimen(s);
- family history and ethnic or cultural attributes, with attention to different responses to medications;
- growth and developmental stage; and
- issues related to the patient’s age and medication regimen.
Define adverse effects.
A general term for any undesirable effects that are a direct response to one or more drugs.
Define agonist.
Drugs that bind to and stimulate the activity of one or more receptors in the body.
Define allergic reaction.
An immunological hypersensitivity reaction resulting from the unusual sensitivity of a patient to a medication; a type of adverse drug event.
Define antagonists.
Drugs that bind to and inhibit the activity of one or more receptors in the body; also called inhibitors.
What are antagonistic effects?
Drug interactions in which the effect of a combination of two or more drugs is less than the sum of the individual effects of the same drugs given alone; usually caused by an antagonizing (blocking or reducing) effect of one drug on another.
What is bioavailability?
A measure of the fraction of drug administered dose that is delivered unchanged to the systemic circulation (from 0% to 100%). Essentially it describes the degree of drug absorption.
What is biotransformation?
One or more biochemical reactions involving a parent drug.
What is the chemical name of a drug?
The name that describes the chemical composition and molecular structure of a drug.
What is a contraindication?
Any condition, especially one that is a result of a disease state or patient characteristic, including current or recent drug therapy, that renders a form of treatment improper or undesirable.
What is cytochrome P450?
The general name for a large class of enzymes that play a significant role in drug metabolism and drug interactions.
What does dependence mean?
A state in which there is a compulsive or chronic need, as for a drug.
Describe dissolution.
The process by which solid forms of drugs disintegrate in the gastrointestinal tract and become soluble before they are absorbed into the circulation.
Define drug.
Any chemical that affects the physiological processes of a living organism.
What are drug actions?
The processes involved in the interaction between a drug and body cells (e.g., the action of a drug on a receptor protein); also referred to as mechanisms of action.
Describe drug effects.
The physiological reactions of the body to a drug. They can be therapeutic or toxic and describe how the body is affected by the drug. The terms onset, peak, and duration are used to describe drug effects (most often referring to therapeutic effects).
What is it called when one drug in a class of several drugs is chosen as the preferred agent, even though the drugs do not have the same active ingredients.
Therapeutic equivalence.
What is drug-induced teratogenesis?
The development of congenital anomalies or defects in the developing fetus that are caused by the toxic effects of drugs.
What is a drug interaction?
Alteration of the pharmacological or pharmacokinetic activity of a given drug caused by the presence of one or more additional drugs; it is usually a result of effects on the enzymes required for metabolism of the involved drugs.
What is the duration of action?
The length of time the concentration of a drug in the blood or tissues is sufficient to elicit a therapeutic response.
Define enzymes.
Protein molecules that catalyze one or more of a variety of biochemical reactions, including those that are a result of the body’s physiological processes or drug metabolism.
Explain the first-pass effect.
The initial metabolism in the liver of a drug absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract before the drug reaches the systemic circulation through the bloodstream. Phenomenon of drug metabolism whereby the concentration of a drug, specifically when administered orally, is greatly reduced before it reaches the systemic circulation.
If a drug has a high or heavy first-pass effect, what does that mean?
It means that when a drug is taken orally, very little of the drug reaches systemic circulation.
What is the generic name of a drug?
The name given to a drug approved by Health Canada; also called the nonproprietary name or the official name. The generic name is much shorter and simpler than the chemical name and is not protected by trademark.
Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency
A hereditary condition in which red blood cells break down when the body is exposed to certain drugs.
Define half-life.
In pharmacokinetics, the time it takes for the blood level of a drug to be reduced by 50%; also called elimination half-life.
What is an idiosyncratic reaction?
An abnormal and unexpected response to a medication, other than an allergic reaction, that is peculiar to an individual patient.
What is meant by incompatibility?
The characteristic that causes two parenteral drugs or solutions to undergo a reaction when mixed or given together that results in the chemical deterioration of at least one of the drugs.
What is an intrathecal injection?
A route of drug injection through the theca of the spinal cord and into the subarachnoid space. This route is used to deliver certain chemotherapy medications to kill cancer cells in the central nervous system.
What is considered a medication error?
Any preventable adverse drug event involving inappropriate medication use by a patient or health care provider; may or may not cause patient harm.
What is the medication use process?
The prescribing, dispensing, and administering of medications and the monitoring of their effects.
What is a metabolite?
A chemical form of a drug that is the product of one or more biochemical (metabolic) reactions involving the parent drug. Active metabolites are those that have pharmacological activity of their own, even if the parent drug is inactive (see prodrug). Inactive metabolites lack pharmacological activity and are simply drug waste products awaiting excretion from the body (e.g., via the urinary, gastrointestinal, or respiratory tract).
Define the onset of action.
The time required for a drug to elicit a therapeutic response after dosing.
What is a parent drug?
The chemical form of a drug that is administered before it is metabolized by the body’s biochemical reactions into its active or inactive metabolites. A parent drug that is not pharmacologically active is called a prodrug. A prodrug is then metabolized to pharmacologically active metabolites.
Define peak effect.
The time required for a drug to reach its maximum therapeutic response in the body.
What is a peak level?
The maximum concentration of a drug in the body after administration, usually measured in a blood sample for therapeutic drug monitoring.
Define pharmaceutics.
The science of preparing and dispensing drugs, including dosage form design (e.g., tablets, capsules, injections, patches, etc.).
What are pharmacodynamics?
The study of what the drug does to the body. The study of the biochemical and physiological interactions of drugs at their sites of activity; it examines the properties of drugs and their pharmacological interactions with body protein receptors.
What is pharmacokinetics?
The study of drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) of drugs.
What is a prodrug?
An inactive drug dosage form that is converted to an active metabolite by various biochemical reactions once it is inside the body.
What are the characteristics of the nursing process?
- A research-based organizational framework for professional nursing practice
- Flexible, adaptable, and considered the major systematic framework for professional nursing practice
- Ensures the delivery of thorough, individualized, and quality nursing care to patients
- Requires critical thinking (clinical reasoning and clinical judgement)
- Ongoing and constantly evolving process
What aspects are included in a medication profile?
Any and all drug use
Home or folk remedies; natural heath products or homeopathic treatments
Alcohol, tobacco, caffeine intake
Current or past illicit drug use
Prescriptions and over-the-counter medications
Past or present health history and associated drug regimen
Family history; growth and developmental stage
Issues related to age and medication regimen
Define adherence.
Active, voluntary, and collaborative involvement of the patient in the mutually acceptable, prescribed course of treatment or therapeutic plan.
Define prescriber.
Any health care provider licensed by the appropriate regulatory body to prescribe medications.
What are the 10 rights of medication administration?
Right drug (or Right Medication) Right dose Right time Right route Right patient Right reason Right documentation Right evaluation (or right assessment) Right patient education Right to refuse
What are time critical scheduled medications?
Facility-defined medications: Administer at exact time when necessary (e.g., rapid-acting insulin), otherwise within 30 minutes before or after scheduled time.
What are non-time critical scheduled medications?
Daily, weekly, monthly medications: Administer within 2 hours before or after scheduled time.
Medications prescribed more frequently than daily but no greater than q4h: Administer within 1 hour before or after scheduled time.
Which organ plays a large role in the metabolism of drugs?
The liver
Does a heavy or high first pass effect result in little or a lot of the drub making its way into systemic circulation?
A little; the liver metabolizes much of it in this case and bioavailability is low for systemic circulation.
True or false: bioavailability is always expressed as a percentage?
True
What is a synergistic effect?
Drug interactions in which the effect of a combination of two or more drugs with similar actions is greater than the sum of the individual effects of the same drugs given alone.
What is therapeutic drug monitoring?
Ongoing monitoring of plasma drug concentrations and dosage adjustment based on these values as well as on other laboratory indicators such as kidney and liver function tests; this monitoring is often carried out by a pharmacist in collaboration with medical, nursing, and laboratory staff. Looking to maximize therapeutic effect and minimize toxic effects.
What is a therapeutic effect?
The desired or intended effect of a particular medication.
Define therapeutic index.
Ratio between the toxic and therapeutic concentrations of a drug.
What is a thin-film drug delivery?
Drug products that dissolve in the mouth and are absorbed through the oral mucosa.
What is time-release technology?
A technique used in tablets and capsules such that drug molecules are released in the patient’s gastrointestinal tract over an extended period.
Define drug tolerance.
A progressively decreased responsiveness to a drug, resulting in a need for a larger dose of the drug to achieve the effect originally obtained by a smaller dose.
Define trough level.
The lowest concentration of a drug reached in the body after it falls from its peak level, usually measured in a blood sample for therapeutic drug monitoring.
Define diarrhea.
Abnormal passage of stools with increased frequency, fluidity, and weight or with increased stool water excretion
Consists of three or more loose or liquid stools per day
What are characteristics of acute diarrhea?
Sudden onset in a previously healthy person
Lasts from 3 days to 2 weeks
Self-limiting
Resolves without sequelae
What are characteristics of chronic diarrhea?
Lasts for more than 3 to 4 weeks
Associated with recurring passage of diarrheal stools, fever, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, weight loss, and chronic weakness
What are some causes of acute diarrhea?
Bacteria Viruses Drugs (drug induced) Nutritional factors Protozoa
What are some causes of chronic diarrhea?
Tumours Diabetes Addison's disease Hyperthyroidism Irritable bowel syndrome AIDS
