Study Notes - Introduction to Pharmacology

• Pharmacology:

  • Study of medications or chemical compounds interacting with living systems to produce effects.

• Drug Development Process:

  • Discovery (Step 1):
    • Identifying potential therapeutic agents.
  • Pre-clinical Research (Step 2):
    • Testing on cell cultures and animals for safety.
  • Clinical Development (Step 3):
    • Testing on humans to determine safety and efficacy.
    • Conducted in four phases: Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4.

• Clinical Trials:

  • Phases:
    • Phase 1: Safety in healthy individuals.
    • Phase 2: Efficacy in affected individuals.
    • Phase 3: Comparison with standard treatment.
    • Phase 4: Post-market surveillance for long-term effects.

• Medication Naming:

  • Types of Names:
    • Chemical, generic, and brand names.

• Pharmacokinetics:

  • Study of drug movement and modification in the body.
  • ADME process: Absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion.

• Pharmacodynamics:

  • Study of drug effects on the body, including therapeutic and side effects.
  • Medications interact with receptors to produce cellular changes.

• Therapeutic Index:

  • Ratio of toxic dose to effective dose.
  • Indicates medication safety level.

• Drug Interactions:

  • Types of Interactions:
    • Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic.
  • Examples of interactions and their effects.

• Key Equations:

  • Therapeutic Index = Toxic Dose (TD50) / Effective Dose (ED50)

• Monitoring:

  • Medications with narrow therapeutic index require close monitoring.

• Examples:

  • Examples of medications with narrow therapeutic index.

These concise notes cover the drug development process, medication naming, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, therapeutic index, drug interactions, and monitoring requirements in pharmacology. Understanding these concepts will help in grasping the fundamentals of drug actions and interactions.