Pharmacology Made Incredibly Easy 4th Edition

Book Preface

Pharmacology basics

Pharmacology is the scientific study of the origin, nature, chemistry, effects, and uses of drugs. This knowledge is essential to providing safe and accurate medication administration to your patients.

The big three

This chapter reviews the three basic concepts of pharmacology:

1. pharmacokinetics—the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of drugs by the body
2. pharmacodynamics—the biochemical and physical effects of drugs and the mechanisms of drug actions
3. pharmacotherapeutics—the use of drugs to prevent and treat diseases.
In addition, it discusses other important aspects of pharmacology, including:

• how drugs are named and classified
• how drugs are derived
• how drugs are administered
• how new drugs are developed.

Naming and classifying drugs

Drugs have a specific kind of nomenclature—that is, a drug can go by three different names:

• The chemical name is a scientific name that precisely describes the drug’s atomic and molecular structure.
• The generic, or nonproprietary, name is an abbreviation of the chemical name.
• The trade name (also known as the brand name or proprietary name) is selected by the drug company selling the product. Trade names are protected by copyright. The symbol ® after a trade name indicates that the name is registered by and restricted to the drug manufacturer.
To avoid confusion, it’s best to use a drug’s generic name because any one drug can have a number of trade names.

Making it official

In 1962, the federal government mandated the use of official names so that only one official name would represent each drug. The official names are listed in the United States Pharmacopeia and National Formulary.

Class act

Drugs that share similar characteristics are grouped together as a pharmacologic class (or family). Beta-adrenergic blockers are an example of a pharmacologic class.
A second type of drug grouping is the therapeutic class, which categorizes drugs by therapeutic use. Antihypertensives are an example of a therapeutic class.