Introduction to pharmacology Flashcards
What is pharmacology?
The branch of medicine and biology concerned with the study of drug action
What does clinical pharmacology focus on?
Focuses on the application of pharmacological principles and methods in the medical clinic and towards patient care and outcomes
What is toxicology?
It is the study of the adverse effects, molecular targets, and characterisation of drugs or any chemical substance in excess
What are drugs?
They are substances that selectively interact with endogenous molecules to modify the functions of cells, physiological systems and living organisms
What can drugs used in?
Used in the treatment or prevention of disease
What are pharmaceuticals?
Drugs used in the treatment or prevention of disease
What are medicines?
Drugs used in the treatment or prevention of disease
What are the 2 types of drugs?
- Agonists
2. Antagonists
What do agonist drugs do?
They bind to and activate receptors to produce a biological response
What do Antagonists drugs do?
They block or dampens a biological response by binding to and blocking a receptor
What is the main difference between Antagonists and agonist drugs?
Agonist drugs activate receptors
Antagonist block receptors
What are drugs usually classified by?
By what they disease they are used to treat
Name 4 classifications drugs can fall in?
Drugs used :
- In chemotherapy
- To replace deficiencies of endogenous substances (insulin)
- To change the regulation of peripheral physiological systems (vasoconstrictors)
- to alter the function of the CNS or PNS
Name the 2 main branches of pharmacology
- Pharmacokinetics
2. Pharmacodynamics
What is Pharmacokinetics (PK) the study of?
How a drug is absorbed, distributed, metabolised or excreted (ADME).
What is Pharmacodynamics (PD) the study of?
How well the targets (e.g. receptors, ion channels, enzymes, and immune system components) respond to a drug.
How do drugs work?
By binding to receptors
Do drugs activate or inhibit receptors?
The do both
They can cause either the activation or inhibition of a regular body process to give a biological response.
Define Pharmacodynamics
The study of the physiological effects of drugs on the body and the mechanisms of drug action and the relationship between drug concentration and effect
What 4 factors about a drug are studied in Pharmacodynamics?
- Mechanisms of drug action
- Time course of drug effects
- Adverse drug affects
- Drug-drug interactions
What do Sedative-hypnotics do?
They depress the function of the CNS
What does the ED50 value of a drug measure?
The dose required to produce 50% of maximum response