Week 6- Pharmacology Flashcards
What is pharmacolgy?
- Is the study of drugs, their actions, dosage, therapeutic uses and adverse effects
What is the leading cause of pt safety errors in healthcare?
- Medication errors
What are drugs?
- It’s a substance that alters biological activity in a person
What are some reasons drugs are prescribed?
- Promote healing (anti inflammatory)
- Cure disease (antibacterial)
- Prevent disease
- Control of slow the process (chemo)
- Decrease risk of complications (anticoagulants)
- Increase comfort (analgesic)
- Replacement therapy (insulin)
- Reduce excessive activity (sedative)
What 4 disciplines is it separated into?
- pharmacodynamics
- pharmacokinetics
- pharmacotherapeutics
- toxicology
What is pharmacodynamics?
- The study of biochemical and physiological effects of drugs and their mechanisms of action
What is pharmacokinetics?
- How the body interacts with administered substances for the entire duration of exposure
What is pharmacotherapeutics?
- The use of drugs for the prevention, treatment, diagnosis, and modification of normal functions. Ex. pregnancy prevention
What is toxicology?
- Study of the adverse effects of chemicals or physical agents on living organisms
What are the drug effects?
- Therapeutic= beneficial tx
- Side effects= unwanted rxns
- Toxic effects= dangerous side effects
- Hypersensitivity= allergic rxns
- Idiosyncratic= unusual rxn by an individual to a normally harmless substance
- Iatrogenic= negative effect caused by error or OD
- Teratogenic= harmful effects on fetus
What are the 4 interactions?
- Synergism
- Antagonism
- Potentiation
- Additive
What does synergism mean?
- When combined effect is greater than that predicted by their individual potencies, the combination is said to be synergistic
- Med A + Med B= ABCDE- too many side effects
What does antagonism means?
- Opposing action (half ass works)
What does potentiation mean?
- To increase the strength or effect
What does additive mean?
- Combining 2= the sum of each
- Tylenol & advil
What does absorption mean when it comes to meds?
- From its site of administration into the body to specific target organs and tissues
- Ultimate goal is reaching a therapeutic concentration in the bloodstream
What are the mechanisms of medication absorption?
- Active transport (moving against the gradient)
- Passive diffusion (doesn’t use energy)
Blood flow and medication absorption
- A properly functioning circulatory system greatly enhances the rate of meds absorbed
What does distribution mean?
- Process by which a med moves throughout the body
- Blood is the primary distribution vehicle
- Factors that change the way blood flows will change the way meds are transported
What does biotransformation mean?
- Manner in which the body metabolizes meds- first pass effect
- Chemical alteration by various bodily systems to create compounds that are more easily excreted from the body
What does excretion mean?
- Body eliminates the remnants of the drug
- Could be toxic or inactive metabolites
- Occurs primarily through the kidneys via 3 mechanisms (glomerular filtration, tubular secretion, partial reabsorption)
What is chronotropic effect?
- Changes HR
What is Inotropic effect?
- Changes the contractility of the heart
What does dromotropic effect?
- Affects the conduction speed in the AV node, and subsequently the rate of electrical impulses in the heart
What do Beta Blockers- Class 2 do?
- Reduce O2 demand of the heart muscle
- Affect the beta cells- B1 (cardiac) & B2 (bronchial)
How does Beta Blockers- Class 2 work?
- Blocks the effect of epi & norepi, therby reducing HR
- Dilates blood vessels, thereby reducing BP
- Can affect both B1 & B2 receptors or be selective and affect 1 only
What are some common beta blockers?
Ending in LOL
- Atenolol
- Metoprolol- lopressor
- Labetalol
- Propanolol- inderal
- Carvedilol- coreg
- Bisoprolol- monocor
What is the main action of Calcium Channel Blockers?
- Main action is to relax smooth muscle, decreasing peripheral resistance
- Used to tx HTN
- 1 Localizes the smooth muscles
- 2 Decreases cardiac workload, HR & cardiac contractions
Common calcium channel blockers?
Ending in ine
- Amlodipine
- Nicardipine
- Nifedipine
- Nimodipine
- Felodipine
How do diuretics work?
- Decrease BP by decreasing blood volume and sodium retention
- Increase the elimination of water, sodium, and electrolytes
- This then reduces BP by reducing peripheral resistance (by decreasing blood volume) and cardiac output
What are diuretics?
“Water Pills”
- Medication that acts on kidneys to increase diuresis
What are diuretics used to treat?
- HTN
- Edema (heart failure & pulmonary edema)
- Renal diseases
- Hepatic diseases
What are the 5 types of diuretics?
- Thiazide diuretics- hydrochlorothiazide
- Loop diuretics- lasix
- Potassium- sparing diuretics- spironolactone
- Osmotic diuretics- mannitol
- Carbonic anhydrase inhibtors- acetacolamide
What are loop diuretics?
- Inhibit Na+/ K+/ 2Cl (chlorine) transport proteins in the loop of henle
- This causes a reduction in the reabsorption of sodium which significantly increases diuresis
- Furosemide is the most common
What are potassium sparing diuretic?
- Increase diuresis but without causing potassium to leave the body
- Spironolactone- leaves some potassium behind
- Stops the entry of aldosterone into the nephron, which prevents sodium and water retention
What are thiazide diuretics?
- Act by inhibiting NaCl reabsorption into the distal convoluted tubule of the kidney
- Happens through the suppression of the sodium chloride contransporter