Intro to pharmacology Flashcards
(12 cards)
List reason for why drugs are prescribed
Management of chronic health conditions (hypertension)
Prevention of medical problems (vaccinations)
Short term management of acute problems (antibiotics)
Prescription of non-pharmaceuticals (gluten free foods, urinary catheters)
Define pharmacodynamics
Study of how the the drug interacts with its target to achieve desired result.
Define pharmacokinetics
Study of how our body handles the drug
List 3 common targets of drugs
Receptors
Enzyme systems
Transporters
List the 4 key aspects of pharmacokinetics and briefly describe them
Absorption: how drug enters the body
Distribution: how drug spreads through body to reach target
Metabolism: chemical alteration of drug by our bodies
Excretion: how drug is removed from body
Why is proper drug development important?
It can have fatal results
What are the disadvantages of drug development?
Arduous process (lots of drugs tested)
Lengthy (10-12 years)
Costly
List the stages of the process of drug development
Pre-clinical development
Clinical development:
phase 1 - trial on healthy volunteers
phase 2 - studies on patients with disease
phase 3 - huge, multi centred efficacy studies
phase 4 - post-marketing surveillance
describe ore clinical development
Basic scientific understanding of disease process
Molecular screening to detect molecules to target
Pre clinical testing (cell culture and animal testing)
Describe what happens in phase 1: testing on healthy volunteers
Low dose and short duration
Closely monitored for toxicity
Does not show that drug works
Mention what happens in phase 2
Assess if drug works properly
Describe what happens in phase 4: post marling surveillance
Not controlled well (no randomised/double blind control)
Only way to assess real world drug use
Observes for unexpected problems with drug use
