Pharmacology Flashcards

Flashcards covering key vocabulary and concepts from the pharmacology lecture notes.

Pharmacology

Study of medications or drugs (which is any chemical that can affect a living system)

Pharmacodynamics

What the drugs do to the body (molecular level)

Provider

Physician, Nurse Practitioner, or Physician’s Assistant who prescribes medications.

Pharmacist

Dispenses medications.

Nurse

Administers medications and manages therapeutic and adverse effects, medication adherence, patient self-management, education, prescription and medication safety.

Ideal Drug Properties

Effectiveness, safety, selectivity

Goal of Drug Therapy

Maximum benefit, minimum harm

Factors Affecting Drug Response Intensity

Medication errors, patient adherence, absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, drug-receptor interaction, patient's functional state, placebo effects, physiologic variables, pathologic variables, genetic variables, drug interactions & food.

9 Rights of Medication Administration

Right patient, right drug, right dose, right route, right time, right assessment, right documentation, right evaluation, right to refuse care

Pregnancy Considerations

Known or highly suspected teratogenic medications.

Elderly Patient Risks

Polypharmacy, co-morbidities, altered organ function, adherence

Adverse Drug Reactions

Side effects, toxicity

Allergic reaction

Trigger response from sensitive immune system

Paradoxical effect

Opposite effect than expected

Iatrogenic disease

Effect caused by the meds

Physical dependence

Adaptation to drug exposure, that abstinence will cause negative effects

Carcinogenic effect

Med may cause cancer

Teratogenic effect

Drug-induced birth defect

Hepatotoxic Drugs

Drugs undergo metabolism and produce toxic metabolites

1906: Federal Pure Food and Drug Act

First one, labeling & purity

1938: Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act

First to require safety testing

1970: Controlled Substances Act

Five categories with potential for abuse

Pharmacokinetics

Movement of drug through the body (ADME)

Absorption

Site of administration to blood

Distribution

Blood to tissue/cells

Metabolism

Alteration of drug by enzymes, mostly by liver

Excretion

Removal of drugs from body, most commonly through urine

Lipophilic

Lipid-soluble

Hydrophilic

Water-soluble

Biotransformation

Enzymatic alteration of drug structure

Bioavailability

Describes how much of active drug reaches bloodstream

Loading dose

Large first dose and then smaller maintenance dose

Therapeutic Index

Measure of drug’s safety, ratio of LD50:ED50

Relative potency

Amount of drug that must be given to produce desired effect

Agonists

Activate receptors, high affinity and high intrinsic

Affinity

Strength of bond

What happens to oral medication once it’s in the body?

Absorbed from GI tract into bloodstream and travels through portal vein into liver