Drug testing & drugs

Question 1

Why do we test drugs? (give 3 reasons)

Answer 1

• toxicity / see if it’s safe / side effects
• efficacy / whether the drug works
• dosage

Question 2

describe the stages of drug testing

Answer 2

1. pre-clinical testing on cells/tissues in the lab
2. pre-clinical testing on live animals
3. clinical testing on healthy volunteers
4. clinical testing on patients
5. further clinical trials to find the optimum dosage
6. peer review

Question 3

what is a double blind trial

Answer 3

neither the patient nor the doctor knows who has the drug and who has the placebo

Question 4

what is a placebo

Answer 4

fake drug that doesn’t contain the real drug

Question 5

What do antibiotics do?

Answer 5

kill bacteria/treat bacterial diseases

specific bacteria should be treated with specific antibodies

cannot kill viruses as they live inside cells

Question 6

what do painkillers do?

Answer 6

treat the symptoms of a disease, do not kill pathogens

Question 7

give an example of an antibiotic and a painkiller

Answer 7

antibiotic - amoxicillin, penicillin
painkiller - paracetamol