How drugs are discovered Flashcards
What is pharmacology?
The study of how drugs affect the body and how the body affects drugs
What’s a key example of a folk remedy still used today?
Cocaine
What was/is cocaine used for? (2)
Anaesthetic and endurance extender
What is some evidence of cocaine being used for over 1000 years?
Traces of cocaine found in the hair of Andean mummy
When was cocaine widely used?
19th century
What happened to the use of cocaine in the 20th century
It became more controlled (as its adverse effects were realised)
What 2 safer drugs were synthesised to replace cocaine?
Procaine and Lidocaine
What’s different about procaine compared to cocaine?
It doesn’t affect the CNS like cocaine does
Give an example of how drugs can be developed by design?
Paul Ehrlich tested hundreds of arsenic derivatives until he synthesised Salvarson, an effective treatment of syphilis
Give an example of how drugs can be discovered by chance
Penicillin was accidentally discovered by Alexander Fleming when his Staphylococci population was contaminated with a mould (penicillin), which inhibited the growth of the bacteria. Antibiotic discovered
What is Pharmadynamics?
studying the mechanism of drug action
What is Pharmakinetics?
studying the handling of a drug by the body
Why is the Pharma industry so important?
It’s worth billions and can help human-kind
