Week 1 - Drugs and physiology Flashcards
What is a ‘drug’?
- A substance used in the diagnosis, treatment , or prevention of a disease or as a component of a medication 2. such a substance as recognised or defined by Food and Drug Administration (TGA in Australia) 3. A chemical substance, such as a narcotic or hallucinogen, that effects the central nervous system, causing changes in behaviour and often addiction (american heritage dictionary)
In MIMS (Drugs guide), what is the ‘use’?
Use (main effect): what disorder is it used to treat
In MIMS (Drugs guide), what is the ‘Contraindications’?
Contraindications: Drugs or disorders that this drug should not be prescribed with/for
In MIMS (Drugs guide), what is the ‘Precautions’?
Take care when using with other drugs (e.g., with alcohol)
In MIMS (Drugs guide), what is the ‘
Adverse reactions
‘?
Unwanted effects
In MIMS (Drugs guide), what is the ' side effects'?
Unwanted effects for one treatment yet may be wanted for another (e.g., sedative effect of antihistamines, slow GIT gastro-intestinal-track motility with Opiates)
In MIMS (Drugs guide), what is the ' Pack'?
How the drug is packaged
In MIMS (Drugs guide), what is the ' dose'?
what dose to prescribe depending no what it is used to treat
What is the LD50?
Dose at which 50% of ‘population’ found to be Lethal, keep below this does
What is the ED50?
Dose at which 50% of the ‘population’ found the drug to be Effective - therapeutic (intended) dosing)
Each drug has a ‘therapeutic index’, what does this mean? (what does a low therapeutic index and a high therapeutic index mean?)
A margin of safety, it is the difference between LD50 an ED50 (Stay within here)
Low therapeutic index - little marin for dosing, easier to overdose e.g., heroin (injectable results in lower therapeutic index)
High therapeutic index - Large margin for dosing, difficult to harm patient e.g., alcohol (orally results in higher therapeutic index)
What is drug potency?
Ability for drug to take effect (how much is needed?)
What is drug toxicity?
Potential to do irreversible harm to body functions - poisons or excessive amount of any substance
What dose is it generally considered safe to stay around?
ED50 (but depends on severity of the condition being treated and dosage curve)
What area of the brain is implicated in memory?
Hippocampus
What area of the brain is broadly implicated in vision?
Occipital Lobe
What area of the brain is broadly implicated in pain?
Thalamus and spinal cord
What area of the brain is broadly implicated in judgement?
Prefrontal cortex and Cingulate Gyrus
What area of the brain is broadly implicated in movement?
Motor cortex
What area of the brain is broadly implicated in sensation?
Parietal lobe - Somatosensory
What area of the brain is broadly implicated in Reward?
The basal ganglia circuit, specifically the mesolimbic pathway (ventral tegmental area and nucleus accumbens), is the center off the reward system yet there are more circuits and brain structures such as the anterior cingulate cortex, and midbrain dopamine pathways. The major neurochemical pathway of the reward system in the brain is the mesocorticolimbic pathway, which includes both the mesolimbic and mesocortical pathways. The ventral tegmental area (VTA) is a source of many dopamine pathways in the brain, which are neurons which use theneurotransmitter dopamine to transmit a signal to other structures. Dopamine acts on D1-like receptors or D2-like receptors to either stimulate (D1-like) or inhibit (D2-like) the production ofcAMP.[11]
What two components make up the peripheral nervous system?
Somatic (Sensorimotor) [touch, sensation]
Autonomic (Parasympathetic [digestion, growth, immune responses], Sympathetic [fight or flight, fright, fornicate])
In the autonomic component of the peripheral nervous system, what does the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems do respectively?
Parasympathetic [digestion, growth, immune responses],
Sympathetic [fight or flight, fright, fornicate]
What brain parts for the main brain hormone system?
- Hypothalamus leading to the…
- Pituritary (and adrenals [atop of kidneys] - cortisone, adrenalen)
- Pineal Gland (sleep and circadian rhythms)