Topic 3 Developing drugs +

Question 1

What is preclinical testing

Answer 1

Drugs are tested on human cells and tissues in the lab
Can’t use human cells and tissues detest drugs that affect the whole or multiple body systems

Question 2

What can’t you use human cells and tissues to test drugs that affect

Answer 2

Drugs that affect hole or multiple body systems e.g. testing a drug for blood pressure must be done on a whole animal because it has an intact circulatory system

Question 3

What is the second step preclinical testing

Answer 3

Test the drugs on live animals to test efficacy
to find out if it’s toxic
and to find the best dosage that should be given

Question 4

What does efficacy mean

Answer 4

Where did the drug works and produces the effect you’re looking for

Question 5

What does the law in Britain say about any new drug

Answer 5

Must be tested on two different live mammals

Question 6

Different views on animal testing

Answer 6

Some people think it’s cruel to test on animals but others believe it’s the safest way to make sure a new drug isn’t dangerous before it’s given to humans

Question 7

Why do some people believe testing on animals is pointless

Answer 7

Some people think that animals are so different from humans

Question 8

What happens if a drug passes the test on animals

Answer 8

Is then tested on human volunteers in a clinical trial

Question 9

What volunteers is the drug first tested on

Answer 9

Healthy volunteers to make sure that it doesn’t have any harmful side effects when the body is working normally

Question 10

What happens to the dose of the drug throughout the trial

Answer 10

The dosage is gradually increased

Question 11

What is done if the results of the test on healthy volunteers are good

Answer 11

The drugs can be tested on people suffering from the illness and the optimum dose is found

Question 12

What is the optimum dose

Answer 12

The dose of the drug that is most effective and has fewer side effects

Question 13

How is the drug tested to see how well it works

Answer 13

Patients are randomly put into groups one is given the new drug the other give him the placebo
this is so the doctor can see the actual difference the drug makes and allows for the placebo effect e.g. when the patient expect the treatment to work so feels better even though the treatment isn’t doing anything

Question 14

What is a double blind trial

Answer 14

Neither the patient nor the doctor knows until all the results have been gathered

Question 15

Why are the trials often done double blind

Answer 15

So the doctors monitoring the patients and analysing the results aren’t subconsciously influenced by their knowledge

Question 16

When are the results of drug trusting and trials published

Answer 16

When they have been peer reviewed and this helps prevent false claims