Developing Drugs

Question 1

Which 2 drugs were traditionally extracted from plants to treat disease/relieve symptoms

Answer 1

1. Painkiller aspirin: originated from willow

2. The heart drug digitalis: originated from foxgloves

Question 2

What traditional drug was extracted from microorganisms

Answer 2

Penicillin discovered by Alexander Fleming from the penicillium mould

Question 3

Where are most new drugs made today

Answer 3

Large scale in the pharmaceutical industry, they’re synthesised by chemists in a lab but the process still starts with a chemical extracted from a plant

Question 4

What are 2 first main stages in drug testing

Answer 4

1)
1. In preclinical testing, drugs are tested on human cells and tissues in the lab
2. You can’t use human cells to test drugs that affect whole or multiple body systems

2)

1. Next step is to test the drug on live animals. This is to test efficacy, toxicity, to find the best dosage
2. The law in Britain states that any new drug must be tested on two different live mammals. However some think it’s cruel to test on animals, but others believe it’s a safe to make sure a drug isn’t dangerous

Question 5

What is meant by efficacy

Answer 5

Whether the drug works and produces the effect you’re looking for

Question 6

What is meant by toxicity

Answer 6

How harmful it is

Question 7

What is meant by dosage

Answer 7

The concentration that should be given, and how often it should be given

Question 8

What is the third main stage of drug testing

Answer 8

1. If the drug passes the tests on animals then it’s tested on human volunteers in a clinical trial
2. First the drug is tested on healthy volunteers. This is to make sure that it doesn’t have any harmful side effects when the body is working normally. At the start a very low dose of the drug is given and this is gradually increased
3. If the results on healthy volunteers are good, the drugs can be tested on people from the illness. The optimum dose is found - this the dose of the drug that is the most effective and had few side effects
4. To test how well the drug works, patients are randomly put into two groups. One is given the new drug, the other is given a placebo. This is so doctors can see the actual difference in the drug makes, it allows for placebo effect
5. Clinical tests are blind, double blind neither the patient nor the doctor knows until all results have been gathered, this is so doctors monitoring the patients and analysing results aren’t subconsciously influenced
6. The results aren’t published until peer review to prevent false claims

Question 9

What is meant by placebo

Answer 9

Substance that’s like the drug being tested but doesn’t do anything

Question 10

What is meant by the optimum dose

Answer 10

The dose of the drug that is the most effective and has few side effects

Question 11

What is the placebo effect

Answer 11

When the patient expects the treatment to work and so feels better, even though the treatment isn’t doing anything