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Questions and Answers
What is pharmacology?
Study of drugs and their interactions with living systems
An ideal drug exists.
False
What are the properties of an ideal drug? (Select all that apply)
What is pathophysiology?
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What is health defined as?
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What does homeostasis refer to?
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Which patient rights are vital for medication safety? (Select all that apply)
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What is pharmacokinetics?
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All drugs produce desirable effects.
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What are agonists?
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What is the first-pass effect?
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What does 'drug tolerance' refer to?
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What is meant by therapeutic index?
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What is the difference between peak and trough?
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Which substances can impact drug metabolism and excretion?
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Adverse drug reactions cannot occur if everything is done correctly.
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The perception of pain is known as ______.
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Study Notes
Pharmacology Foundations
- Drug: Any chemical that affects biological processes.
- Pharmacology: The study of drugs and their interactions with living organisms.
- Clinical pharmacology: Focuses specifically on drug interactions in humans.
- Therapeutics: Application of drugs for diagnosis, prevention, treatment of diseases, or pregnancy prevention.
- Ideal drug properties: Effectiveness, selectivity, and safety; however, no drug can be completely ideal.
- Therapeutic objective: To maximize benefits while minimizing harm.
Pathophysiology Foundations
- Pathophysiology: Examines the consequences of normal anatomy dysfunction.
- Health: Defined as the absence of disease.
- Disease: Characterized by improper bodily function.
- Homeostasis: The body’s equilibrium state.
- Negative feedback: Mechanism that counteracts changes to maintain stability.
- Positive feedback: Drives processes away from homeostasis, often amplifying effects.
Medication Safety
- Patient rights include: Right Patient, Drug, Dose, Time, Route, Implication, and Documentation.
- Types of errors: Adverse (harmful), Near-miss (potential harm), Sentinel (serious), Errors of commission (action taken incorrectly), omission (failure to act), and execution (incorrect performance).
- Comorbidity and polypharmacy: Multiple simultaneous health conditions and the use of multiple medications respectively.
Drug Classification
- Drugs are categorized into pharmacologic classes for organization.
- Examples include: NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), analgesics, and antibiotics.
Drug Interactions
- Importance of understanding how drugs affect one another; proactive research is essential.
- Adverse drug reactions: Negative effects resulting from medications, even with correct use.
- Medication errors: Preventable incidents leading to patient harm.
Individual Variation in Drug Responses
- Physiological factors: Include age, gender, and weight affecting drug metabolism and effect.
- Pathological factors: Conditions like kidney or liver dysfunction influencing drug responses.
- Genetic factors: Genetic variations alter individual drug metabolism.
Pharmacokinetics
- Involves the journey of drugs through the body to achieve their effects.
- Key processes: Absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion.
Pharmacodynamics
- Explores how drugs influence body functions.
- Primary effects are typically desirable, while secondary effects may vary in desirability.
Protein-binding
- Drugs are carried in plasma; only free (unbound) drugs exert therapeutic actions.
Agonists and Antagonists
- Agonists: Mimic bodily actions at receptors.
- Antagonists: Block receptor activation from other substances.
First-pass effect
- Drug concentration is significantly reduced as it passes through the liver before systemic circulation.
Drug Tolerance
- Develops as a reduced effectiveness of a drug occurs over prolonged therapy.
Phases of Pharmacokinetics
- Absorption: Drug moves from administration site to bloodstream.
- Distribution: Drug disperses into body fluids and tissues.
- Metabolism: Biotransformation of drugs occurs primarily in the liver.
- Excretion: Elimination of drugs from the body.
- Elimination: Combination of excretion and metabolism processes.
Therapeutic Index
- Represents the safety margin of a drug, indicating the difference between effective and toxic doses.
Half-life
- The time required for half of a drug's concentration to be eliminated from the body.
Peak and Trough Levels
- Peak: Highest concentration of a drug in plasma.
- Trough: Lowest concentration of a drug in plasma.
Kidney and Liver Impact
- Hepatotoxic drugs can become toxic to the liver upon metabolism; monitor for liver injury signs and check creatinine labs for kidney function.
Prevention and Management of Drug Interactions
- Prevent interactions by thoroughly reviewing all medications a patient takes, including drug-drug, drug-food, and drug-herb interactions.
Pain
- Defined by the patient's subjective experience; it exists whenever the patient reports it.
Pathophysiology of Pain
- Involves sensory/discriminative pathways, motivational/affective responses, and cognitive/evaluative perceptions.
- Nociception refers to the perception of pain through neural pathways.
Pain Medications
- Varieties include OTC (over-the-counter), NSAIDs, non-opioid analgesics, opioid analgesics, and combination drugs.
Pain Management
- Approaches include pharmacologic treatments and nonpharmacologic techniques, as well as alternative and complementary therapies.
Headaches
- Migraines: Characterized by vascular dilation and inflammation, leading to severe throbbing pain.
- Cluster headaches: Occur in series, presenting as intense pain during attacks.
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Description
Test your knowledge on the foundational concepts of pharmacology, including the definitions and properties of drugs, clinical pharmacology, and therapeutics. This quiz covers key factors related to drug effectiveness, selectivity, and safety. Prepared with 15-20 questions, it's an essential review for anyone studying the field.
