Basic Principles of Pharmacology

Because of the extensive clinical use of therapeutic medications, members of the medical community must have some knowledge of the basic types of drugs and the mechanisms of their actions. Although this has always been true for individuals who prescribe and administer drugs (i.e., physicians and nurses), it is now recognized that members of other health-related professions must have a fundamental knowledge of pharmacology. 

When drugs are used therapeutically in humans, the way that the body interacts with the drug and what specific effect it has on an individual must be known. Consequently, pharmacotherapeutics is divided into two functional areas pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics (see Fig. 1-1). Pharmacokinetics is the study of how the body deals with the drug in terms of the way it is absorbed, distributed, and eliminated. 

Pharmacodynamics is the analysis of what the drug does to the body, including the mechanism by which the drug exerts its effect. In this text, the basic principles of pharmacokinetics will be outlined in Chapters 2 and 3, and the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of specific drugs will be discussed in their respective chapters. 

Pharmacy deals with the preparation and dispensing of medications. Although pharmacy is also frequently considered a subdivision of pharmacology, this area has evolved into a distinct professional discipline. Care must be taken not to use the terms pharmacy and pharmacology interchangeably, because these are quite different areas of study. 

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These extended case studies complement the basic information presented in Chapters 1 to 40. They reinforce basic principles of pharmacology, such as the role of patient factors in empiric antimicrobial therapy Most of the cases provide clinical information obtained from a single patient some cases describe a composite of typical features derived from several patients. These cases illustrate simple pharmacologic principles, such as consideration of kidney function in drug dosing—concepts useful in answering examination questions, and in the clinics. 

This book is devoted to basic principles of pharmacology and lias good chapters on drug metabolism and pharmacogenetics. 

The basic principles of pharmacology emerge in discussions of what contributes to the drug experience. 

This chapter presents the basic principles of pharmacology upon which drug therapy is based. As you read the chapter, try to apply the principles to a drug with which you are familiar, like aspirin. Refer to this chapter often as you learn the drugs presented in the rest of the book. Try to learn the "story" of each drug rather than isolated facts. The best way to develop a story about a drug is to associate, ask, and predict... 

Katzung PHARMACOLOGY, 9e > Section VIII. Chemotherapeutic Drugs > Chapter 52. Basic Principles of Antiparasitic Chemotherapy > ... 

The expectation of combined effects from mixture exposure is most often founded in the basic principles of toxicology and pharmacology (Loewe and Muischnek 1926a Bliss 1939 Plackett and Hewlett 1952). The first strictly pharmacological ideas formulated (Loewe and Muischnek 1926a) were supplemented by biometrical considerations. Later, Bliss (1939), a biologist and a biometrician, provided the first consistent framework, as depicted in Table 5.2 (Plackett and Hewlett 1952). In this framework, the main ideas focused on the presence or absence of interactions (commonly referred to as interactive and noninteractive joint action) with respect to responses observed in test organisms, and the presence of the same or a different mode of action. 

Clinical pharmacology can be defined as the study of drugs in humans. Clinical pharmacology often is contrasted with basic pharmacology. Yet applied is a more appropriate antonym for basic (2). In fact, many basic problems in pharmacology can only be studied in humans. This text will focus on the basic principles of clinical pharmacology. Selected applications will be used to illustrate these principles, but no attempt will be made to provide an exhaustive coverage of applied therapeutics. Other useful supplementary sources of information are listed at the end of this chapter. 

This book describes how the basic principles of clinical pharmacology currently are being applied in the process of drug development. 

Regrettably/ adverse reactions to medications are generally not well studied/ and the mechanisms of some remain poorly described. The problem is further exacerbated by the inadequate training that clinicians receive in the basic principles of applied pharmacology and therapeutics. This chapter focuses on the clinical detection of ADRs and on factors that may increase ADR risk. 

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF VETERINARY PHARMACOLOGY FOR EQUINE PRACTITIONERS 3... 

Rane A. Basic principles of drug disposition and action in infants and children. In Yaffe IF, ed. Pediatric Pharmacology Therapeutic Principles... 

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