Pharmacology is the study if the actions of drugs, incorporating knowledge from other interrelated

sciences, such as pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics.

Introduction to pharmacology

Definition:

Pharmacology is the science that deals with the study of drugs and their intention with living systems

The word pharmacology is derived from Greek “Pharmacon” means drug and “logos” means study.

Drug:

Drug is a substance used in the diagnosis, prevention or treatment of disease.

Pharmacokinetics:

Pharmacokinetics is the study of the absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion of drugs, i.e
what the body does the drug (in Greek kinesis = movement).

Pharmacodynamics

Pharmacodynamics is the study of the effect of the drugs on the body and their mechanism of action, i.e
what the drug does the body

Therapeutics:

Therapeutics deals with the use if drugs un the prevention and treatment of disease

Toxicology:

Deals with the adverse effects of the drug and also the study of poisons, i.e detection, prevention, and
treatment of poisoning. (Toxicon = poison in Greek)

Chemotherapy:

Chemotherapy is the use of chemicals for the treatment of infections. The term now also includes the
use of chemical to treat malignancies.

Pharmacy:

Pharmacy is the science of identification, compounding and dispensing of drugs. It also includes
collection, isolation purification, synthesis and standardization of medical substances.

The nurse’s role as the caretaker puts the nurse in the position as being closest to the patient and best
able to assess both the patient’s condition prior to use of medication as well as the patient’s response to
the medication – two key components of appropriate medical therapy.
Drug Classifications

Drugs are classified by how they affect certain body systems, such as bronchodilators’ uses for
respiratory conditions; by their therapeutic use, such as anti-nausea; or based on their chemical
characteristics, such as beta blockers

Many may fit into more than one drug classification due to the various effects that they exert in the
body. Because certain drugs in the same class have many features in common, categorizing them in
these ways helps nurses become familiar with many of the drugs they are administering. For example,
there are many types of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, but they have many common side
effects

Sources of Drugs

 The source of drugs could be natural or synthetic

Natural sources:

1. Plants – Atropine, Morphine, Quinine, Digoxine, Pilocarpine, Physostigmine

2. Animals – Insulin, Heparin, Gonadotrophins and Antitoxic sera
3. Minerals – Magnesium sulphate, Aluminum hydroxide, Iron, Sulphur, and radioactive isotopes
4. Microorganism – antibacterial agents are obtained from some bacteria and fungi. Thus we have
Penicillin, Cephalosporin, Tetracycline and other antibiotics.
5. Human – some drugs are obtained from man, e.g Immunoglobulin from blood, growth hormone
from anterior pituitary and chronic gonadotrophins from the urine of pregnant woman

Synthetic sources:

 Most drugs are now synthesized e.g. quinolones, omeprazole, sulfonamides, pancruronium,
neostigmine
 Many drugs are obtained from cell culture e.g. urokinase from cultured kidney cells
 Some are now produced by recombinant DNA technology e.g. human insulin, tissue plasmogen
activator and some drugs by Hybridoma technique e.g. monoclonal antibodies.

Drug names

 Nurses must know both the trade name of a drug, which is assigned by the pharmaceutical
company that manufactures the drug, and the generic name, which is the official drug name and
is not protected by trademark
 Manufacturers may receive a patent on a new drug, which means that no other companies can
produce the drug until the patent expires. Once this patent has expired, other companies may
manufacture the drug with a different trade name but equivalent chemical makeup. Some
companies choose to use the generic name only.
 The generic name of a drug is the original designation that the drug was given when the drug
company applied for the approval process
 Generic drugs are chemicals that are produced by companies involved solely in the
manufacturing of drugs
 Chemical names are names that reflect the chemical structure of drugs
  Orphan drugs are drugs that have been discovered but are not frequently viable and therefore
have not been “adopted” by any drug company. Orphan drugs may be useful in treating a rare
disease, or that may have potentially dangerous side effects. Orphan drugs are often abandoned
after preclinical trials or phase I studies
 Over the counter drugs are products that are available without prescription for self-treatment
of a variety of complaints
 Some of these agents were approved as prescription drugs but later were found to be very safe
and useful for patients without the of a prescription
 Many of these drugs were “grandfathered” into use because they had been used for so long
 Although OTC drugs have been found to be safe when taken as directed, nurses should consider
several problems related to OTC drug use:
 Taking these drugs could mask the signs and symptoms of underlying disease, making diagnosis
difficult.
 Taking these drugs with prescription medications could result in drug interactions and interfere
with drug therapy.
 Not taking these drugs as directed could result in serious overdoses.

Sources of drug information

1. Drug labels
a. Drug labels have specific information that identifies a specific drug
2. Package inserts
a. All drugs come with package insert prepared by the manufacturer according to strict
FDA regulations. The package insert contains all of the chemical and study information
that led to the drug’s approval
3. Reference books
a. A wide variety of reference books are available for drug information. The physician’s
desk reference (PDR) is a compilation of the package insert information from drugs in
this country, along with some drug advertising
4. Journals
a. Various journals can be used to obtain drug information
5. Internet information
a. Many patients now use the internet as a source of medical information and advice

Pharmacodynamics

 Pharmacodynamics is the study of actions of the drugs on the body and their mechanism of
action, to know what drugs do and how they do it
 Drugs produce their effects by interacting with the physiological system of the organisms. By
such interaction drugs can only modify the rate of function of various systems.
 Drugs may increase or decrease the secretion. But they cannot change the basic function of any
physiological system
 Drug usually works in one or four ways:
o To replace or act as substitutes for missing chemicals
o To increase or stimulate certain activities
o To depress or slow cellular activities
 o To interfere with functioning of foreign cells, such as invading microorganism or
neoplasms (drugs that act in this way are called chemotherapeutic agents

Modifications of immune status:

 Vaccines and sera act by improving our immunity while immunosuppressant act by depressing
immunity, glucocorticoids

Sites and mechanism of drug actions

 Sites: drugs may produce their effects by locally or systematically

 Local: drugs may act at the site of application, antibiotics, antifungal agent