NURS 3242 Expanded Pharmacology Lecture Review Flashcards

Vocabulary practice flashcards generated from NURS 3242 expanded lecture review topics including pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and cardiac/blood medications.

Prescription Medications

Medications requiring an authorized order and professional oversight, useful for conditions needing ongoing clinical monitoring.

OTC Medications

Over-the-counter medications available without a prescription order, convenient for self-treatment of minor symptoms.

FDA Boxed Warning

The most prominent prescription-drug labeling warning issued by the FDA to flag particularly serious or life-threatening risks.

Chemical Name

A precise medication name that describes its specific molecular and chemical structure.

Generic Name

The official standardized nonproprietary name assigned to a drug, such as diazepam.

Trade Name

The proprietary brand name assigned to a drug by its manufacturing company, such as Valium.

Dependence

A state of physiologic adaptation to a drug that can result in withdrawal symptoms when the medication is stopped.

Addiction

Compulsive drug use despite physical, social, or psychological harm, accompanied by impaired control over drug intake.

Withdrawal

A set of physical and psychological symptoms occurring after reducing or stopping a substance to which the body has adapted.

Controlled Substance

A medication regulated under specific laws due to its recognized potential for misuse, abuse, and physical or psychological dependence.

Pregnancy Category A

Historical fetal risk classification indicating that controlled studies in human subjects failed to demonstrate fetal risk.

Pregnancy Category X

Historical fetal risk classification indicating that the medication is strictly contraindicated in pregnancy due to proven fetal risk.

Pharmacokinetics

The study of drug movement through the body, consisting of four phases: absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME).

Absorption

The movement of a drug from its site of administration across biological membranes into circulating body fluids.

Cytochrome P450 System

A hepatic enzyme system participating in drug metabolism and biotransformation that can activate or inactivate medications.

P450 Inducers

Substances (such as carbamazepine and rifampin) that increase hepatic enzyme metabolism, lowering the circulating levels and effectiveness of concurrent drugs.

P450 Inhibitors

Substances (such as diltiazem, verapamil, and grapefruit juice) that slow enzyme metabolism, increasing concurrent drug exposure and toxicity risk.

Protein Binding

The reversible binding of drug molecules to blood proteins such as albumin; only the free, unbound drug fraction is available to produce action.

Loading Dose

An initial higher dose of a drug given to reach a therapeutic concentration rapidly within the bloodstream.

Maintenance Dose

Routine repeated doses administered to maintain a steady plasma drug concentration within the therapeutic window as elimination occurs.

Half-Life

The time required for the total plasma concentration of a drug to decrease by $50\%$.

Pharmacodynamics

The study of drug actions and effects on the human body, frequently mediated through binding to specific cellular receptors.

Frequency-Distribution Curve

A graphical presentation showing the number of individual patients responding to specific dosages of a medication.

ED50

Median effective dose; the specific dosage required to produce a targeted therapeutic response in $50\%$ of a population.

LD50

Median lethal dose; the dose determined preclinically to be lethal to $50\%$ of an experimental animal group.

TD50

Median toxic dose; the dose that produces a defined toxic symptom or effect in $50\%$ of a tested patient group.

Therapeutic Index

A numerical ratio representing drug safety, calculated using the mathematical formula $\text{TI} = \frac{\text{LD}_{50}}{\text{ED}_{50}}$.

Peak Level

The absolute highest concentration of a drug measured in the bloodstream following administration.

Trough Level

The lowest drug concentration in the bloodstream, typically measured immediately prior to the next scheduled dose.

Agonist

A medication that binds to and activates a receptor, mimicking the effect of an endogenous body messenger.

Antagonist

A medication that occupies a receptor site to prevent an agonist or natural ligand from activating it.

Angioedema

A sudden, life-threatening allergic swelling of the lips, face, tongue, or upper respiratory airway commonly linked to ACE inhibitors and ARBs.

Agranulocytosis

A severe deficiency of granulocytes/neutrophils in the blood that significantly increases infection risk, heralded by fever and sore throat.

Digoxin

A positive inotropic cardiac glycoside that inhibits myocardial $\text{Na}^+/\text{K}^+\text{-ATPase}$, enhancing contractility while slowing heart rate.

Digoxin Immune Fab

The specific antibody antidote (Digibind) administered to reverse life-threatening levels of digoxin toxicity.

Anticoagulants

Drug agents (such as heparin and warfarin) that inhibit specific factors in the coagulation cascade to delay blood clot formation.

Antiplatelets

Drug agents (such as clopidogrel and aspirin) that interfere with platelet activation and aggregation to prevent clot development.