Chapter 5 - The Action of Drugs

Question 1

What is the chemical name of a drug?

Answer 1

The complete chemical description of a drug.

Question 2

What is the generic name of a drug?

Answer 2

It specifies a particular chemical but not a particular brand.

Question 3

What is the brand name of a drug?

Answer 3

It specifies a particular formulation and manufacturer of a drug.

Question 4

How long can a brand name be patented?

Answer 4

Up to 20 years.

Question 5

What are psychoactive drugs?

Answer 5

Drugs that affect the brain and result in temporary changes in thought process, mood, and behavior.

Question 6

What are the main uses of psychoactive drugs?

Answer 6

Recreation, spiritual purposes, and medication.

Question 7

What do stimulants do?

Answer 7

They produce wakefulness and a sense of energy.

Question 8

What do depressants do?

Answer 8

They slow nervous system activity.

Question 9

What do analgesics do?

Answer 9

They reduce pain.

Question 10

What do hallucinogens do?

Answer 10

They produce altered perceptions.

Question 11

What is pharmacodynamics?

Answer 11

The study of a drug’s actions and effects on the body.

Question 12

What are specific effects of a drug?

Answer 12

Effects that depend on the presence of the chemical at certain concentrations.

Question 13

What are nonspecific effects of a drug?

Answer 13

Effects influenced by expectations, experience, and setting.

Question 14

What is the placebo effect?

Answer 14

Effects produced by an inactive chemical that the user believes to be a drug.

Question 15

Q: What is a double-blind study?

Answer 15

A: An experiment where neither the researcher nor the participant knows whether the drug or a placebo is being used.

Question 16

Q: What is the dose-response relationship?

Answer 16

A: The correlation between the quantity of a drug administered and the size of the effect.

Question 17

Q: What is the therapeutic effect of a drug?

Answer 17

A: The intended desired effects of the drug.

Question 18

Q: What are side effects of a drug?

Answer 18

A: The unintended effects that accompany therapeutic effects.

Question 19

Q: What is the effective dose (ED50)?

Answer 19

A: The dose of a drug that produces a meaningful effect in half the subjects in a drug test.

Question 20

Q: What is the toxic dose (TD50)?

Answer 20

A: The dose of a drug that has a toxic or unwanted effect in half the participants in a drug test.

Question 21

Q: What is the therapeutic index?

Answer 21

A: The ratio of TD50 to ED50.

Question 22

Q: What is potency in drugs?

Answer 22

A: The amount of drug (dose) required to produce an effect.

Question 23

Q: What is pharmacokinetics?

Answer 23

A: The study of how drugs move through the body, including absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion.

Question 24

Q: What is the time course of a drug?

Answer 24

A: The timing of the onset, duration, and termination of a drug’s effects.

Question 25

Q: What are cumulative effects of a drug?

Answer 25

A: Effects of giving multiple doses of the same drug, increasing the maximum blood level of the drug. This causes metabolites to accumulate in the body over time, leading to increased or prolonged pharmacological or toxic effects | are particularly common with drugs that have a long half-life

Question 26

Q: What is efficacy in drugs?

Answer 26

A: A drug’s ability to produce a desired behavioral effect.

Question 27

Q: What is controlled release in drug administration?

Answer 27

A: A dosage form for drugs that are released or activated over time.

Question 28

Q: What are the main routes of drug administration?

Answer 28

A: Enteral (oral, rectal), parenteral (intravenous, intramuscular, subcutaneous), and topical (inhalation, snorting, skin).

Question 29

Q: What is intravenous injection?

Answer 29

A: Injection directly into the bloodstream, producing rapid effects.

Question 30

Q: What is intramuscular injection?

Answer 30

A: Injection into a muscle, with absorption more rapid than subcutaneous injection.

Question 31

Q: What is subcutaneous injection?

Answer 31

A: Injection under the skin, often used by beginning opioid users but can cause skin tissue death.

Question 32

Q: What is the blood-brain barrier?

Answer 32

A: A barrier between blood and the fluid that surrounds neurons, allowing some chemicals to pass.

Question 33

Q: What does it mean for a substance to be lipophilic?

Answer 33

A: It is dissolvable in fats and oils, allowing it to cross the blood-brain barrier.

Question 34

Q: What are active metabolites?

Answer 34

A: Metabolites that have drug actions of their own, potentially prolonging the effects of the original drug.

Question 35

Q: What is enzyme induction?

Answer 35

A: The body's production of more metabolizing enzymes in response to a foreign drug, contributing to tolerance.

Question 36

Q: What is CYP450?

Answer 36

A: A group of key drug-metabolizing liver enzymes.

Question 37

Q: What is drug disposition tolerance?

Answer 37

A: Tolerance that occurs when drug use increases the rate of metabolism or excretion.

Question 38

Q: What is behavioral tolerance?

Answer 38

A: Tolerance that occurs when individuals learn to compensate for nervous system impairment.

Question 39

Q: What is pharmacodynamic tolerance?

Answer 39

A: Tolerance caused by altered nervous system sensitivity, often due to changes in neurotransmitter production or receptor numbers.

Question 40

Q: What are withdrawal symptoms

Answer 40

A: Symptoms that appear when the body has adapted to a drug and the drug is no longer present, often the opposite of the drug's effects.