TWO MAIN DIVISIONS OF PHARMACOLOGY

Pharmacokinetics

• the study of how the body absorbs, distributes, metabolizes and excretes drugs

• “what the body does to the drug?”

Pharmacodynamics

• describes the action of drugs

• the measurement of responses to drugs

• how response relates to drug dose / concentration

• “what the drug does to the body?”

Pharmacotherapeutics

the study of the use of drugs to treat diseases

Cure a disease
Delay disease progression
Alleviate the signs and/or symptoms of the disease

the use of drug treatment is to:

Pharmacogenetics

the study of the relationship of genetic factors to variations in drug response

Pharmacoeconomics

the study of the cost effectiveness of drug treatments

Pharmacoepidemiology

the study of the effect of drugs on population

toxicology

the study of drug’s adverse effects

toxinology

the study of a poison, usually one produced by or occurring in a plant or microorganism

Posology

the study of doses

Pharmaceutics

the study of preparing and dispensing of drugs (formulation)

Pharmacognosy

the study of the identification and preparation of crude drugs from natural resources

Materia medica

the science of drug preparation and the medical use of drug

Clinical Pharmacy

the application of all principles in pharmacy to humankind