ch1 intro to drugs(1)

8/3/2019 Ch1 Intro to Drugs(1)

1/23

Copyright 2011 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

Introduction to Drugs

Chapter 01


2/23


Pharmacology

Pharmacology is the study of the biological effects ofchemicals.

Drugsare chemicals that are introduced into the body tocause some sort of change.

Health care providers focus on how chemicals act onliving organisms.

Nurses deal with pharmacotherapeutics, or clinicalpharmacology.

Some drug effects are therapeutic, or helpful, but othersare undesirable or potentially dangerous.


3/23


Nurses Responsibility

Administering drug

Assesses for adverse drug effects

Intervening to make the drug regimen more tolerable

Providing patient teaching about drugs and the drugregimen

Monitoring and prevention of medication errors


4/23


Sources of Drugs

Natural Sources

Plants Synthetic version of the active chemical found in a

plant

Main component of the growing alternative

therapy movement


5/23


Plants


6/23


Sources of Drugs (cont.)

Natural Sources (cont.)

Animal products

Used to replace human chemicals that are notproduced because of disease or genetic problems

Genetic engineering

Many of these preparations are now createdsynthetically


7/23Copyright 2011 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

Sources of Drugs (cont.)

Natural Sources (cont.)

Inorganic compounds

Salts of various elements can have therapeuticeffects in the human body

Synthetic Sources

Genetic engineering alter bacteria to producechemicals that are therapeutic and effective

Original prototypes



Inorganic



Drug Evaluation Preclinical Trials

Chemicals tested on laboratory animals

Phase I Studies

Chemicals tested on human volunteers

Phase II Studies

Drug tried on informed patients

Phase III Studies

Drug used in vast clinical market

Phase IV Studies

Continual evaluation of the drug



Question

Tell whether the following statement is true or false.

Groups of similar drugs, all of which are derived from anoriginal prototype, are available today because of

technological advances that make a particular drug moredesirable in a specific situation.



Answer

True

Rationale: These technological advances have led to thedevelopment of groups of similar drugs, all of which are

derived from an original prototype, but each of which hasslightly different properties, making a particular drug

more desirable in a specific situation.



Legislation


13/23



Controlled Substances

The Controlled Substances Act of 1970

Control over the coding of drugs and theenforcement of these codes to the FDA and the DrugEnforcement Agency (DEA), a part of the U.S.Department of Justice.

Prescription, distribution, storage, and use of these drugs

are closely monitored. Local policies and procedures might be even more

rigorous.



Controlled Substances (cont.)



Generic Drugs

Chemicals that are produced by companies involved

solely in the manufacturing of drugs Bioavailability of the drug

Dispensed as written

Important in drugs that have narrow safety margins



Orphan Drugs

Drugs that have been discovered, but are not financiallyviable and therefore have not been adopted by any

drug company The Orphan Drug Act of 1983



Over-the-Counter Drugs

Products that are available without prescription for self-treatment of a variety of complaints.

Some of these agents were approved as prescriptiondrugs.

Later were found to be very safe and useful forpatients (example: loratidine).

Many of these drugs were grandfathered.



Over-the-Counter Drugs (cont.)

Nurses should consider several problems related to OTCdrug use:

Taking these drugs could mask the signs andsymptoms of underlying disease, makingdiagnosis difficult.

Taking these drugs with prescription medications

could result in drug interactions and interferewith drug therapy.

Not taking these drugs as directed could resultin serious overdoses.


20/23


Sources of Drug Information

Drug Label

Drug labels have specific information that identifies aspecific drug

Understanding how to read a drug label is essential

Package Insert

Prepared by the manufacturer

Contains all of the chemical and study informationthat led to the drugs approval

Difficult to understand and read


21/23


Sources of Drug Information (cont.)

Reference Books

Physicians Drug Reference (PDR)

Drug Facts and Comparisons

AMA Drug Evaluations

Lippincotts Nursing Drug Guide (LNDG)

Journals

Internet


22/23


Question

Drug labels are a source of information. What informationmight a drug label provide?

A. The manufactured date

B. The expiration date

C. When the patent expires

D. The binding properties of the drug


23/23

Answer

B. The expiration date

Rationale: Drug labels have specific information thatidentifies a specific drug. For example, a drug labelidentifies the brand and generic names for the drug, thedrug dosage, expiration date, and special drug warnings.Some labels also indicate the route and dosage foradministration.

ch1 intro to drugs(1)

Documents