Chapter 2 - Pharmacological Principles

Additive Effects - Drug Interactions in which the effect of a combination of two or more drugs with similar actions is equivalent to the sum of the individual effects of the same drugs given alone Adverse Drug Event (ADE) - Any undesirable occurrence related to administering or failing to administer a prescribed drug Adverse Drug Reaction (ADR) - Any unexpected, unintended, undesired, or excessive response to a medication given at therapeutic dosages; one type of ADE Adverse Effects - Any undesirable bodily effects that are a direct response to one or more drugs Agonist - A drug that binds to and stimulates the activity of one or more biochemical receptor types in the body Allergic Reaction - An immunological hypersensitivity reaction resulting from the unusual sensitivity of a patient to a particular medication; a type of ADE Antagonist - A drug that binds to and inhibits the activity of one or more biochemical receptor types in the body, resulting in inhibitory or antagonistic drug effects; also called inhibitors Antagonistic Effects - Drug interactions in which the effect of combination of two or more drugs is less than the sum of the individual drugs given alone Bioavailability - A measure of the extent of drug absorption for a given drug and route (can vary from 0%-100%) Biotransformation - One or more biochemical reactions involving a parent drug Chemical Name - The name that describes the chemical composition and molecular structure of the drug Contraindication - Any condition, especially one related to a disease state or other patient characteristic, including current or recent drug therapy, that renders a particular form of treatment improper or undesirable Cytochrome P450 - General name for a large class of enzymes (found especially in the liver) that play a significant role in drug metabolism Dissolution - The process by which solid forms of drugs disintegrate in the gastrointestinal tract, become soluble and are absorbed into the circulation