Basic Pharmacology Flashcards
What is a drug?
Any substance that alters physiology of the body (not food or nutrient)
Definition must consider intention (vitamin C - not a drug but has drug-like properties)
What is behavior?
Intake/processing information, integration of information, actions based on this processing, and many other things
Illicit vs. licit drugs
Illicit = illegal
Licit = legal
Abuse can’t be determined by legality → recreational (pleasure) vs. instrumental (socially-approved goal)
What is pharmacology?
Consists of two elements:
Pharmacodynamics - body’s biological response to drugs (what the drug does to the body)
Pharmacokinetics - movement of drugs throughout the body (what the body does to the drug)
What are the different methods of naming drugs?
Chemical name (i.e. 7-chloro-1)
Generic (nonproprietary) name (i.e. Diazepam)
Trade (proprietary) name (i.e. valium)
Street name (i.e. downers, vitamin V)
What units are dosages given in?
Milligrams (mg) - 1/1000 g
Keeps dosages constant in human adults, children, and other animals (less in humans than rodents)
What is a dose response curve?
A graph of a drug’s potency and effectiveness that tests different doses of a drug (plotted on log scale)
What is effectiveness?
Maximum effect at any dose
ED₅₀ - dosage effective in 50% of all cases
What is potency?
Dose required for efficacy
Lower ED₅₀ = high potency
Higher ED₅₀ = low potency
What is lethal dose?
The probability of adverse effects
LD₅₀ kills 50% of subjects
What is the Therapeutic Index (TI)?
TI = LD₅₀/ED₅₀ (higher TI = safer drug)
What is the Safety Index (margin of safety)?
More conservative version of TI
LD₁/ED₉₉ (lethal dose for 1%/effective dose for 99%)
What are the different drug effects (2)?
Primary effects - the reason a drug is taken (i.e. Advil is taken for fever reduction)
Side effects - an effect that isn’t directly related to the reason for taking the drug (i.e. Advil is also an anti-inflammatory)
What is Thalidomide and how does it demonstrate the different drug effects?
Thalidomide - mild sleeping pill
Marketed as “safe for pregnant women” → caused thousands of babies to be born with malformed limbs (drug tests don’t address all potential impacted populations)
What is a ligand?
A chemical that binds with a particular molecule
What is the difference between endogenous and exogenous?
Endogenous - from within the body
Exogenous - from outside the body