Drugs as Medicines

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Drugs as Medicines

• Chapter 11

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The Actions of Drugs

• Drugs are substances taken into the body that
  change one or more of the bodys functions.
• Medicines are drugs used to help cure disease,
  lessen disease severity, relieve symptoms,
  prevent diseases, help with diagnosis, or produce
  other desired effects
• Medicines benefit people in these ways
• The may help prevent diseases.
• The may help in the cure of diseases.
• The may make diseases less severe without helping
  cure them
• They may relieve symptoms
• They may bring about other desired effects

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Cont.

• All drugs work by changing the bodys own
  process.
• One familiar drug, aspirin, illustrates this
  concept.
• Aspirin is a drug that relieves fever, pain and
  inflammation.
• Its not addictive, and it certainly cant be as
  powerful as the drugs physicians prescribe.
• Aspirin works by blocking the actions of powerful
  body chemicals.
• These chemicals exist in all body tissues.
• They produce fevers, cause inflammation, cause
  the blood to clot, and make nerves sensitive to
  pain.
• Aspirin changes all these body responses through
  its actions on the body chemistry.
• All though aspirin reduces fever and
  inflammation, prevents the blood from clotting,
  and is still the best drug available to relieve
  certain kinds of pain

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Cont.

• A person might take aspirin to prevent blood
  clotting, but this same effect also occurs in
  people who take aspirin to treat pain.
• A single two-tablet does of aspirin doubles the
  bleeding time of wounds, an effect lasts from 4
  to 7 days.
• For this reason, it is important not to take
  aspirin before any kind of surgery or in the
  weeks before childbirth.

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Reyes Disease Syndrome

• Aspirin is associated with this disease because
  it damages the liver and brain
• The most likely victims of Reyes syndrome are
  children under 15 years old, who are given
  aspirin to relieve symptoms of chicken pox or flu
• The lives of victims who are promptly treated can
  be saved.
• However, they may be left mentally retarded of
  with disorders of voice and speech.

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Cont.

• Warning signs of Reyes Syndrome
• Nausea with severe vomiting
• Fever
• Inactivity
• Loss of consciousness
• Uncontrollable behavior while unconscious.

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• Acetaminophen-a drug that relieves fever and
  pain. Sold under the brand names such as Tylenol
  or Datril.
• Ibuprofen- a drug that relieves fever, pain and
  inflammation. Whose brand names are Advil,
  Mortin, and others
• Naproxen Sodium- relieves fever, pain and
  inflammation. It provides longer relief from a
  single does than other common pain relievers.
  Brand name Aleve.

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• Keroprofen- a drug that relieves fever pain, and
  inflammation, Its small pill size eases
  swallowing for those who have trouble swallowing
  regular pills. Brand names Actron and Odudis KT.
• Side Effects are effects of drugs other than the
  desired medical effects
• Antihistamines are drugs that counteract
  inflammation caused by histamine, one of the
  chemicals involved in allergic reactions.

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Factors that Change Medicines Effects

• The nature of the drug
• The form in which it is taken
• The route by which it is taken
• When it is taken( with or without food
• You( your age weight, expectations)
• Other drugs taken with it
• The takers history of drug use
• Transdermal literally across the skin. In a
  drug delivery system, a drug that is placed in
  contact with the skin by way of an adhesive
  patch. The drug is absorbed across the skin and
  into the bloodstream

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Tolerance and How it works

• Tolerance is a state that develops in users of
  certain drug that makes larger and larger amounts
  of the drugs necessary to produce the same
  effect.
• It also means that the body has grown used to the
  being exposed to the drug
• The longer the exposure, the better the body
  becomes at breaking it down and it the faster it
  gets rid of it.

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Cont

• The liver breaks down the drug faster.
• The kidney throw it out in the urine faster
• Tissues begin to ignore the drug- they no longer
  respond to it.
• Tolerance varies from person to person.
• One person may come to tolerate a certain drug
  well. But another may hardly adjust to it.
• This is when addiction sets in. Addiction is a
  physical or psychological craving for higher and
  higher doses of a drug that leads to bodily
  harm, social maladjustment or economic hardship.

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Drug Synergy

• Two drugs taken together may produce a new or
  stronger effect called drug synergy.
• Drug Synergy is the combined action of two drugs
  that is greater than or different from the action
  of either drug alone.
• Sometimes this is beneficial, as when medicines
  are intended to work together ti help cure an
  illness.
• Other times the interactions are dangerous as
  when sleeping pills and alcohol are combined.

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Antagonist Drugs

• Is a drug that opposes the action of another
  drug.
• Such drugs are often useful in the treatment of
  accidental overdoses or poisoning.
• Some forms of addiction therapy use antagonist
  drugs to oppose the effects of the addictive drug.

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Testing Drugs Risks and Safety

• Ingredients in medicine must be proved both safe
  and effective before the Food and Drug
  Administration, a watchdog agency of the federal
  government, allows the medicine on the markets.
• The FDA keeps tabs on drug companies as they
  develop new drugs.
• After the drug is on the market the FDA continues
  to check the market, especially for medicines to
  treat AIDS
• NO drug is totally safe for all people at all
  times at any dose.

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Cont.

• The safest drugs are many antibiotics.
• Antibiotics are drugs used to fight bacterial
  infections
• They can be used to work against bacteria in the
  body, because bacteria normally divide more
  rapidly than most cells.
• Anesthetics- drug that kill pain, with or without
  producing loss of consciousness
• Lethal dose- amount of a drug necessary to
  produce death
• Today, better, safer drugs are used for pain
  management instead

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Nonprescription Medicines

• The FDA divides medicine into two classes
• Over the counter
• Prescription drugs
• Over-the-counter- drugs legally available without
  a prescription
• Prescription drugs- drug legally available only
  with a physicians order.

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Use of OTC Drug

• Buyers often choose correctly and obtain relief
  from minor and chronic medical problems at
  reasonable cost.
• Net sales for OTC medicines are in the many
  billions of dollars each year.
• OTC drugs are freely available.
• They are relatively safe
• You can misuse or overuse OTC

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Overusing OTC

• Many people use to many OTC medicines too often.
• Advertisers seeking to sell their product suggest
  that people pay attention to feelings in their
  bodies, label them as problems and then seek
  cures through pills
• For example a person with a headache may quickly
  take a dose of aspirin rather than trying to
  identify the cause of the headache.
• Pain or discomfort is a signal from your body
  that something is out of balance.

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Generic and Brand Name

• Both OTC drugs and prescription are referred to
  by two terms
• Generic Names
• Brand Names
• Generic names- the chemical names for drugs as
  opposed to the brand names the names everyone
  can use.
• Brand Names- the name companies give to drugs
  the names by which they are sold.

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Prescription Medicines

• You cant buy them over the counter.
• They can be obtained only if prescribed by
  physicians because
• They may be dangerous. They can easily be misused
• The doses must be adjusted to body weight, age,
  drug use, or other factors
• They require guidance to use them correctly. They
  may have complicated directions
• They can be abused. They can cause addiction or
  have other serious side effects.

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Cont.

• Before leaving the physicians office with your
  prescription, be sure that you know
• The name of your condition
• The name of the prescribed medicines
• Whether the physician recommends using a generic
  version of the drug, if a available.
• How often, how long, and in what dose you should
  take the medicine
• Whether to take the medicine with meals or
  between them
• What side effects you should look for and report
• What you should do if you forget to take a dose
  on time-double the next one, take it late, or
  leave it out entirely.

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