Term
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Definition
| Absorbtion is what happens to a drug from the time it is introduced into the body until it reaches the circulating fluids and tissues |
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Term
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Definition
| An adverse drug reaction is and undesired response to a drug. |
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Definition
| Agonists are drugs that are capable of binding with receptors in order to induce a cellular response |
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Definition
| Drugs that block the response of another drug |
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Term
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Definition
Bioavailability is the ability of a drug to reach the bloodstream and its target tissues.
How quickly is the drug released from the form it is in? How does it travel to the target tissues?
How fast does it take effect?
It is expressed in percentage. A drug that is 98% bioavailable has a high level of effectiveness - it varies from one trade name to the next. It is effected by it's particle size, solubility, and polarity.
This is the reason that some drugs may be prescribed specifically indicating the trade name drug with no substitution. |
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Term
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Definition
| Drugs are said to be bioequivalent if the rate of absorption and onset of action are the same. The same or similar bioavailability. |
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Term
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Definition
| Biotransformation is the metabolizing of a drug into an inactive form. |
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Term
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Definition
| A carcinogenic effect is the ability of a drug to cause cancer |
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Term
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Definition
| Critical concentration is the amount of a drug needed to cause a therapeutic effect |
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Term
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Definition
| Cumulation is the gradual rise in serum drug levels that occurs when the rate of drug elimination fails to match the rate of absorption. |
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Term
| Desensitization/ Refractoriness |
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Definition
| Desensitization is a decrease in receptor response resulting from continued stimulation of a receptor. |
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Term
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Definition
| Distribution is the movement of a drug to the body’s tissues. |
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Term
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Definition
| Distribution Half Life is the time required for blood levels to drop by one-half because of migration into the tissues. |
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Term
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Definition
| A drug is a chemical that is introduced into the body to cause some sort of change. A chemical that effects living tissue. |
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Term
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Definition
| Efficacy is the effectiveness of a drug in producing a more intense response as its concentration is increased. How well does the drug work in stimulating the desired response? |
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Term
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Definition
| The elimination half-life is the length of time required for a drug to decrease its concentration in the plasma by one-half of the original amount |
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Term
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Definition
| Excretion is the removal of the drug from the body |
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Term
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Definition
The first-pass effect is the phenomenon that occurs following ingestion of an oral drug, in which a large percentage of the drug is destroyed by the liver and never reaches the tissues.
The more of the drug the liver chews up, the higher the first-pass effect. |
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Term
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Definition
| An iatrogenic disease is a disease that is drug or physician-induced. |
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Term
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Definition
An idiosyncratic effect is an adverse drug reaction based on a client’s genetic predisposition.
It is usually completely unpredictable in it's manifestation. |
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Term
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Definition
| An Indication is the use for which a drug is approved. |
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Term
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Definition
| Liver Enzyme Inducers are drugs that stimulate production of a liver enzyme that can cause a decrease in the therapeutic level of other drugs. |
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Term
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Definition
| Liver enzyme inhibitors are drugs that decrease production of a liver enzyme that can cause an increase in the therapeutic level of other drugs. |
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Term
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Definition
| The Onset of Action is the length of time after administration when the body begins to respond to the drug |
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Term
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Definition
| Orphan drugs are drugs that have been discovered but which are not financially viable to bring to market |
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Term
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Definition
| The Mechanism of Action is how the drug exerts its effects |
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Term
| Minimum Inhibitory Concentration |
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Definition
| Minimum Inhibitory Concentration is the lowest concentration of an ANTIBIOTIC which inhibits the growth of the bacterium. |
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Term
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Definition
| Pharmacodynamics are how a drug affects the body. This what is studied in stage 2 of clinical trials. |
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Term
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Definition
| Pharmacokinetics is how the body acts on a drug. "Pharmaco" and "Kinetics" literally means "drug" "actions". |
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Term
| Pharmacologic Classification |
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Definition
The pharmacological classification is a drug name that also describes how the drug acts. The preferred classification by which to learn drugs.
Examples:
diuretic
calcium channel blocker
vasodilator
adrenergic antagonist |
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Term
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Definition
| Pharmacology is the study of drugs and their interactions with living organisms. Includes foods and pollutants and their pharmacological effect. |
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Term
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Definition
| Pharmacotherapeutics is the branch of pharmacology that involves the use of drugs to treat, prevent or diagnose disease. Literal meaning: "Drug therapy" |
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Term
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Definition
| Peak concentration is when the concentration of the drug in the body serum is at it's highest. |
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Term
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Definition
| Potency is the strength of a drug at a specified concentration or dose. It is regulated, so a drug with with packaging saying there are 100mg of an active ingredient must have 100mg unless it is a generic drug. (Generic drugs have to be within 10%) |
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Term
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Definition
| Prodrugs are drugs that become more active after they are metabolized. It is a pharmacologicaly inactive chemical. The body changes it into a chemically active substance. ie: Levodopa for Parkinson Disease is turned into dopamine by the body. |
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Term
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Definition
| A prototype drug is the drug to which all other drugs in its class are compared. |
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Term
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Definition
| A receptor is the structural component of a cell to which a drug binds in a dose-related manner in order to produce a response. |
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Term
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Definition
| Selective toxicity is the ability of a drug to attack only those systems found in foreign cells. |
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Term
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Definition
| A side effect is an unavoidable drug effect that occurs at therapeutic doses. |
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Term
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Definition
| Steady state occurs when the rate of excretion equals the rate at which a drug enters the body. This is an optimum balance that a physician wants a patient to reach with a long-term prescription. Related to a therapeutic level. |
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Term
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Definition
| A teratogenic effect is a drug induced birth defect |
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Term
| Therapeutic Classification |
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Definition
The therapeutic classification of a drug describes what is the drug is treating. Usually, that name of the disease or problem is in the therapeutic name:
antihypertensive
antidiuretic
antinflammatory. |
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Term
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Definition
| The therapeutic effect is the desired effect of the drug. |
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Term
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Definition
| The therapeutic level is the desired concentration of the drug. The concentration is reached and maintained after repeated fixed dosages. |
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Term
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Definition
| Tolerance is the process of adapting to a drug over a period of time, and subsequently requiring higher doses to achieve the same effect |
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Term
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Definition
| Toxicity is an adverse drug reaction caused by excessive dosing, impaired biotransformation or decreased excretion. |
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Term
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Definition
| The trough is when the serum concentration in the body is at it's lowest - generally before the next dosage of a drug. |
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Term
| Unlabeled/off-labeled indications |
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Definition
| Unlabeled indications are uses of a drug that have not been approved by the FDA. |
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Term
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Definition
A drug interaction happens when you put two drugs together, the chemical structure or pH can be effected.
A drug interaction can be good, such as combining Penicillin with Probenefit to cause the penicillin to be present in the tissues for longer.
The effects can be negative as well such as Coumadin (warfarin), a blood thinner, combined with too much spinach (high in vitamin K) would render the Coumadin inactive. |
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Term
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Definition
| Colace is a stool softener. Commonly used for patients who have limited mobility and therefore reduced GI motility. |
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Term
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Definition
| A contraindication is an instance where you would never give the drug. An example would be an allergy to penicillin. Contraindications are different than precautions. |
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Term
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Definition
| Lasix (furosemide) is a loop diuretic used to reduce fluid retention. It can be given via PO or IV. Rarely IM. |
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Term
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Definition
| Nurses need to know what the normal dose range is for a certain drug. If a doctor writes a prescription for 1g of a certain drug that you know the dose range for is 1 - 3mg, it should raise a red flag. |
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Term
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Definition
Nurses need to know about drug elimination to be aware of how a certain drug is eliminated.
Anesthesia is eliminated by the lungs.
Chemo drugs are eliminated through the skin (skin care becomes important).
Elimination through the kidneys is frequently how drugs are eliminated (in this case, fluid intake is important to prevent buildup of drug waste in the GU tract.) |
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Term
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Definition
Beta blockers reduce the influence of the sympathetic nervous system on the heart which reduces heart's excitability. Also relaxes vasoconstriction to reduce BP.
Examples:
Atenolol
metaprolol
timolol
-and a lot more drugs that end in "-lol" |
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Term
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Definition
| United States Pharmacopeia - a non–governmental authority for prescription and OTC medicines and other healthcare products. |
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Term
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Definition
| The National Formulary sets standards for purity, potency, quality, packaging, labeling, and dosage forms. |
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Term
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Definition
| There are standards that regulate the purity of active ingredients in a drug vs. inactive ingredients in a drug (dyes, fillers etc) |
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Term
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Definition
| Generic drugs fall within 10% of potency of trade drugs. This can be a problem with heart or thyroid medication where a 10% change from trade to generic can be a dramatic difference. |
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Term
| Safety and toxicity of a drug |
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Definition
| Found in the Physician's Drug Reference (PDR) safety and toxicity is measured by the incidence and severity of reported side effects after use. |
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Term
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Definition
| The controlled substances act was instated in 1970 that regulated distributing of narcotics and other drugs which can cause dependence. Requires that the use of the drug is documented and accounted for. Organized by schedule number 1-5. |
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Term
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Definition
Schedule 1 drugs have highest abuse potential and lack accepted safety standards for their use.
Examples: heroin and LSD |
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Term
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Definition
Schedule 2 drugs have medical use, but also have a high risk for abuse/dependence.
Examples:
Morphine
demerol
percocet
vicoden. |
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Term
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Definition
| Schedule 3 drugs are medicinal drugs that can cause moderate to low physical abuse and moderate dependence. Codiene |
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Term
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Definition
| Schedule 4 drugs have medicinal purpose with only mild risk for dependence or abuse, Includes soma compound, benzodiazapines, non-narcotic analgesics, valium. |
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Term
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Definition
| Schedule 5 drugs have a low potential for abuse. Sometimes includes cough syrups with codine, some anti-diarrhea drugs with opium. Most schedule 5 drugs are OTC. |
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Term
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Definition
| The Nurse Practice Act is state legislation that defines what a RN can and cannot do within their scope of practice. |
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Term
| Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee |
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Definition
| The P&T is a committee within a facility that decided what the drug standards for substitution within the facility are. For example, at CMC, Protonix is the standard for treating gastric reflux. |
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Term
| Phase 2 of Clinical trials |
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Definition
| Phase 2 of clinical trials of a drug explores the efficacy of a drug through human testing. |
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Term
| Phase 1 of clinical trials |
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Definition
| Phase 1 of a drug's clinical trials is when, during human testing, researchers are looking at drug safety and how the drug behaves on the body. This phase looks at the drugs pharmacodynamics. |
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Term
| Preclinical research of new drugs |
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Definition
| During Preclinical research, a new drug is tested on animals. An application is then submitted to the FDA to get permission to test on humans. |
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Term
| Phase 3 of Clinical Trials |
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Definition
| In phase 3 of clinical trials, a new drug is tested on a group of people and the side effects are explored. Do the side effects outweigh the therapeutic effect or not? |
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Term
| Phase 4 of clinical trials |
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Definition
Phase 4 of clinical trials is after the drug is approved by NDA and is released on the market and is monitored for adverse reactions, effectiveness on the general population and alternative indications.
Viagra was originally released to lower blood pressure, but post-market research revealed an alternative use! |
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