ch. 1 orientation to pharm Flashcards
Pharmacology is part of multiple disciplines from
anatomy
physiology
psychology
chemistry
microbiology
Drug:
any chemical that can affect living processes
Pharmacology:
the study of drugs and their interactions with living systems (physical and chemical properties of drugs and their effects)
- drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion
Clinical Pharmacology:
study of drugs in humans
Therapeutics: (pharmacotherapeutics)
the use of drugs to diagnose, prevent, or treat disease or to prevent pregnancy; medical use of drugs
3 main properties of an ideal drugs
effectiveness: most important!!**; drug does what it’s supposed to do
safety: does not produce harmful effects, even in very high doses (all rugs can cause injury)
selectivity: only does what it is supposed to do
reversible action:
want drug actions to subside within an appropriate time frame (anesthetics)
predictability:
want to know what it will do
ease of admin:
simple to take/give; helps with pt adherence and decrease admin errors
freedom from drug interact:
no interactions between drugs taken concurrently
low cost:
one of the most expensive drugs out there, mavenclad $60,000/mon
chemical stability:
lose efficacy (effictiveness) if sits on shelf too long; have expiration dates
simple generic name:
pt can’t communicate what they are taking (can’t pronounce)= increased risk of error
therapeutic objective of drug therapy is:
provide MAXIMUM benefit with MINIMAL harm
Administration:
too much= toxicity
too little= treatment failure
route
time
med errors: who/how
Pharmacokinetics:
impact of the body on the drugs
how much of administered dose gets to sites of action in body
4 pharmacokinetic processes:
- drug absorption
- drug distribution
- drug metabolism
- drug excretion
pharmacodynamics:
impact of the drugs on the body
placebo effect: pt given what they believe to be med, has psychological/physiological response they believe would happen with that med (pos or neg reaction)
Individual properties can affect drug responses: (4)
- physiological: age, gender, weight
- pathological: liver/kidney function; etc.
- genetic: no 2 patients are alike
- drug interactions: some drugs can increase/decrease effectiveness or side effects
