20.2 General Aspects

Drugs

(?) can be broadly defined as foreign substances placed into the body.

medication

The term (?) refers to drugs or chemicals used to diagnose, treat, or prevent disease.

Pharmacology

(?) is the study of medications and their actions on the body.

systematic method

To study and converse about pharmacology, health care professionals must have a (?) for naming medications.

chemical description

The most detailed name for any medication is its (?), which states its chemical composition and molecular structure.

Ethyl-1-methyl-4-phenylisonipecotate hydrochloride

(?), for example, is a chemical name.

generic name

A (?) is usually suggested by the manufacturer and confirmed by the United States Adopted Name Council.

United States Pharmacopeia (USP)

It becomes the Federal Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) official name when listed in the (?), the official standard for information about pharmaceuticals in the United States.

fentanyl citrate USP

In the case of N-Phenyl-N-(1-(2-phenylethyl)-4-piperidinyl) propenamide (the chemical name), the generic name is (?).

brand name

To foster brand loyalty among its customers, a manufacturer gives the medication a (?) (sometimes called a trade name or proprietary name).

Sublimaze

In our example, (?) is the brand name for fentanyl citrate injection.

Duragesic

Fentanyl transdermal patches have the brand name (?).

generic name

The (?) is not capitalized, but the brand name is a proper name and should be capitalized.

trademark

Most manufacturers also register the name as a (?), so the stylized® or ™ can follow the name, as in Duragesic®.

plants, animals, minerals, the laboratory

The four main sources of medications are (?)

Plants

(?) can be the oldest source of medications; primitive people probably used them directly as “herbal” medicines.

plant extracts

Indirectly, (?) such as gums and oils have long been a source of medications.

purple foxglove, deadly nightshade

Examples include the (?), a source of digitalis (a glycoside), and (?), a source of atropine (an alkaloid).

bovine and porcine pancreas

For many years, the primary sources of insulin for treating diabetes mellitus were the extracts of (?).

Minerals

(?) are inorganic sources of medications such as calcium chloride and magnesium sulfate.

synthetic

Laboratories create (?) medications.

synthetic medications

(?) can provide alternative sources of medications for those found in nature, or they can provide entirely new medications not found in nature.

accurate information

Obtaining (?) on medications can be difficult.

multiple sources

Using (?) of information about medications is usually a good idea.

United States Pharmacopeia (USP)

The (?) is a nongovernmental, official public standards-setting authority for prescription and over-the-counter medicines and other health care products manufactured or sold in the United States.

medication’s profile

A (?) describes its various properties.

generic and trade names

Most frequently include the (?), although it occasionally refers to chemical names.

Classification

(?) is the broad group to which the medication belongs; knowledge of classifications essential to understanding the properties of medications.

Mechanism of action

(?) is the way in which a medication causes its effects, its pharmacodynamics.

Indications

(?) are conditions that make administration of the medication appropriate (as approved by the FDA).

Pharmacokinetics

(?) is how the medication is absorbed, distributed, and eliminated; typically includes the onset and duration of action.

Contraindications

(?) are conditions that make it inappropriate to give the medication; unlike conditions when the medication is simply not indicated, means that a predictable harmful event will occur if the medication is given in a specific situation that is not one in which it would normally be used.

Dosage

(?) is the amount of the medication that should be given.