Pharmacology 1 Flashcards
What is meant by drug interactions?
- How different medications work together and how they affect each other
What is warfarin used for?
- Anticoagulant
- Used to treat and prevent blood clots that might result in heart attack, stroke or death
What is Carbamazepine used for?
- anticonvulsant
- It works by decreasing nerve im pulses that cause seizures and pain
What is convulsion?
- A sudden, violent, irregular movement of the body, caused by involuntary contraction of muscles and associated especially with brain disorders such as epilepsy, the presence of certain toxins or other agents in the blood or fever in children
What is an anti-coagulant?
- Drugs that help to prevent blood clots
What are the 5 different classes of drugs?
- Local anaesthetics
- Antimicrobials
- Drugs in pain and inflammation
- Drugs in sedation
- Emergency medical drugs
What is the use of local anaesthetic?
Used to reduce the awareness of pain
How does local anaesthetic work in terms of ion channels?
- Acts on nerve ion channels to block propagation (stops the signal from passing through nerves)
What are 4 examples of LA’s?
- Lignocaine
- Prilocaine
- Bupivicaine
- Mepivicaine
What are the properties of the LA mepivacaine?
- Rapid onset
- Intermediate duration
What are the 3 types of antimicrobial?
- Antibiotics
- Antiviral
- Antifungals
What are 4 commonly prescribed antibiotics?
- Amocycillin
- Metronidazole
- Doxicycline
- Clindamycin
What does amoxycillin do?
- Inhibits cell-wall synthesis during bacterial multiplication, leading to cell death
- It shows enhanced activity towards gram-negative bacteria compared to natural and penicillinase-resistant penicillin’s
What does metronidazole do?
Disrups DNA synthesis in susceptible bacterial organisms
What does Doxicycline do?
- Works against a wide range of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria
What does Clindamycine do?
Used to treat gram-positive penicillin-resistant infections
What is Aciclovir?
- An antiviral drug
- It is highly active against the herpes simplex virus which causes cold sores and genital herpes and against the similar varicellszoster virus which causes chickenpox and shingles
What is Nystatin and what is it used to treat?
- Topical antifungal drug
- Used in treatment of infections due to candida species
What is Fluconazole and what is it used to treat?
- systemic - oral antifungal drug
- Used in the systemic treatment of candidiasis and cryptococcal meningitis
What is an analgesic?
A medicine that relieves pain
What are the drugs used to reduce inflammatory mediators?
- Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID)
What are the drugs used to reduce the inflammation process?
- Corticosteroids
What does anti-pyretic mean?
Reduces the effects of fevers
What are the properties of paracetamol? (3 points)
- Anti-pyretic and analgesic
- Little anti-inflammatory action
What is the mechanism of action of paracetamol?
- Mechanism uncertain
Does paracetamol have many side-effects?
No, has few side effects
Is there a restricted sale of paracetamol?
No
What is the dosage for paracetamol?
Dose 1g, four times daily
Paracetamol is often combined with other analgesics. What is a common combination?
- Co-codamol
- Paracetamol and codeine
- This is more effective than just giving one or the other
What is an example of a Salicylate and what is it used for?
- Aspirin
- Used to relieve pain, reduce inflammation and lower fever