Clinical trials AQA GCSE Biology

how was penicllin discovered

Alexander Flemming returned to his lab after a holiday and a fungus was growing in his petri dish killing surrounding bacteria, as the genus of the fungus was penicillum he named the antibiotic penicillin

what is aspririn

common painkiller, developed from a chemical found in the bark of willow trees

what is digitalis?

used to treat heart problems like heart failure, originally developed from a chemical found in a plant called foxglove

What is the efficacy of a drug?

how well the drug works eg. how well a painkiller reduces your pain

what is dosage

how much of the drug/ concentration should be given

what is toxicity?

how harmful it is eg. does it damage any cells, any side effects?

step 1 of pre clinical trials

substance is tested on human cells and tissues which can be grown in a lab. this way we can easily and cheaply test lots of substances however it doesn't tell us how it would affect an entire organism or particular organ.

step 2 of pre clinical trials

testing on live animals, gives us a good idea of efficacy and toxicity of the drug

step 1 of clinical testing

give the drug to healthy volunteers at a low dosage then slowly increase the dose keeping a close eye on the individual(trying to find maximum dosage here)

step 2 of clinical testing

give the drug to people with the illness and slowly increase the dose(this time we're looking for the optimum dosage where efficacy is maximised and toxicity minimised)

what is a placebo

like the real drug but doesn't do anything(made of sugar)

what is a placebo used for?

to help test the effectiveness of a new health care treatment, such as a medication, by using it as a control to compare

what is a double blind trial?

Where the patients AND researchers don't know which patients have the drug or placebo

what's the importance of a peer review?

It is when scientists check each other's work
It is important to prevent false claims