Overview Pharmocologic Principles Flashcards
What is the definition of pharmacology?
The interaction of drugs (chemicals) with biological systems
What is the definition of pharmacotherapeutics?
The selection of the right drug in the right dose to interact with the right target to produce desired therapeutic results. This includes the prevention, diagnosis, treatment or cure of a specific disease.
What are five factors to consider for a prescription?
The drug, dosage, route/formulation, frequency, and duration/# of doses.
What does pharmacokinetics describe?
The process of getting the drug to the target and keeping it at the target. Includes the factors of absorption, elimination, and distribution of the drug.
What is a useful measure of drugs that have a systemic effect?
The amount of drug present in the plasma compartment (Cp). The effect of a drug that acts systemically is proportional to the level in the Cp.
Is the level of Cp frequently measured?
No. Most drugs have a wide therapeutic window so their Cp does not need to be monitored. However, some drugs have a very narrow therapeutic window and require closer monitoring of Cp.
Two examples of drug delivery methods that do not result in systemic effects.
Inhalation (such as albuterol) and ectopic application (directly to the skin). There may be others, these were mentioned off hand in lecture.
What is elimination pharmacokinetics?
The balancing of drug dosage and frequency so that the rate in equals the rate out. This is also the definition of “steady state”.
What determines how large the difference between peak and trough of drug concentrations in the Cp can be, and what modulates the size of peaks and troughs?
The therapeutic window. A wide window allows for greater variation in Cp level, and a narrow window limits the acceptable variation. Peak size may be modified by the formulation of the drug. A slow release formula may allow for gradual release of the drug over may hours time, narrowing the range in Cp level and decreasing the dose frequency.
What is the target of vicodin and is it an agonist or antagonist?
The mu opioid receptor, in the nociceptic pain pathway, which acts to suppress pain information from being percieved and reacted to. Thus, vicodin is an agonist, activating the mu receptor.
Define physiology, pathophysiology, and pharmacology.
What are the side effects of vicodin (and other opioids) and what causes them?
Opioids commonly incurr constipation, nausea/vomitting, and decreased respiratory response. Constipation results from the presence of mu receptors in the GI tract which cause muscle spasms under the effect of opioids. N/V results from mu receptors in the chemoreceptor trigger zone. Respiratory depression results from mu receptors in the respiratory center whose activation blocks the response to CO2.
What are two types of Adverse Drug Reactions?
Side Effects and Extension Effects. Side effects occur when the drug acts on a non-target system, but at normal therapeutic doses. Extension effects occur when the drug acts at the target system in too large an effect (supra-therapeutic dose).
