1. Basic principle of pharmacology

Drug Definition

Substance put into the body to change physiological function.

Pharmacotherapeutics

Use of drugs to treat, control, or prevent diseases.

Pharmacokinetics

What the body does to a drug, including absorption, metabolism, and excretion.

Pharmacodynamics

What a drug does to the body, including mechanisms for decreasing pain and lowering blood pressure.

Chemical Name

The chemical structure of the drug.

Generic Name

The shortened or condensed version of the chemical name of a drug.

Trade/Brand Name

The marketed name under which a drug is sold.

Generic Equivalents

Drugs marketed by generic name after patent expiration, equivalent when they have the same active ingredient and effects.

FDA

The Food and Drug Administration, responsible for testing and approving drugs for patient use.

Phase 1 Clinical Trials

Testing on healthy volunteers, typically lasting less than 1 year.

Phase 2 Clinical Trials

Testing on a small patient sample (200-300 people) to determine effectiveness, lasting about 2 years.

Phase 3 Clinical Trials

Testing on a larger sample (2,000-3,000 people) to determine safety, lasting about 3 years.

Phase 4 Clinical Trials

Post-marketing surveillance to monitor drug use and side effects after approval.

Orphan Drugs

Drugs designed for rare diseases affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the USA.

Off-Label Prescribing

Prescribing a drug for an unintended purpose, legal as FDA cannot dictate physician practice.

Dose-Response Curves

Graphical representation of the relationship between drug dosage and its effects.

Potency

The dosage of a drug required to produce a certain effect; not necessarily indicative of effectiveness.

Therapeutic Index

The ratio of the toxic dose to the effective dose, indicating drug safety.

Bioavailability

The percentage of an administered dose that appears in the bloodstream.

First Pass Effect

The process by which a drug is metabolized in the liver before it reaches systemic circulation.

Volume of Distribution (Vd)

A measure of how extensively a drug distributes throughout the body compared to plasma.

Clearance (CL)

The rate of drug removal from the body, dependent on blood flow and extraction ratio.

Extraction Ratio

The efficiency of an organ at removing a drug from the bloodstream for metabolism.