Pharm 1

Question 1

What is meant by the term “Post hoc ergo propter hoc” and what is a problem with using such a measure?

Answer 1

Means he was sick, now he is well, and therefore treatment cured him. It is wrong as 80% of patients will heal no matter what we do and correlation does not mean causation.

Question 2

What is an excipient?

Answer 2

inactive substance that is used to carry and active substance (bulk/carrier)

Question 3

Name three different types of excipient that are commonly used and why:

Answer 3

1. Salt adjusts the solubility
2. Inactive substances (talcum and lactose) this just add bulk
3. Solubilising liquid means the drug can be easily administered (as it precipitates easily)

Question 4

What is a placebo?

Answer 4

Tablet that is identical in every way except for containing the active ingredient

Question 5

Explain the positive and the negative placebo effects:

Answer 5

Positive placebo effect = talcum tablet cured me

Negative placebo effect = talcum tablet have me schizophrenia

Question 6

Contrast double blinded and single blinded trails:

Answer 6

Double blinded (one research administers and records the results then the other analyses) or single blinded (where one research just gives the treatment and the other does everything else)

Question 7

Explain what is meant by a prospective and a retrospective trail and contrast the two terms:

Answer 7

Prospective trials = inherently better (hypothesis then leads study)
Retrospective = more dangerous as we are looking at the results to formulate a research question meaning when may extrapolate inferences that are not there

Question 8

Explain the difference between clinically significant and statistically significant results?

Answer 8

Statically significant simply refers to a mathematical significance of the results. For a result to be clinically significant it needs to have clinical applications to it. The results just by themselves are not sufficient. The Burden of proof remains with the claimant.

Question 9

What are the two controls that are necessary for a study?

Answer 9

A positive control + a negative placebo control

Question 10

Why is a positive and a negative control important?

Answer 10

A positive control is a compound that is widely accepted to have efficacy for a desired effect. A negative control should not have any effect, so any effect should be indicative of the error inherent to a study. Testing a drug against both of these controls, its efficacy for a desired effect can be tested and proven. The same controls can be a measure of a compound’s safety.