lOMoAR cPSD| 67756003
1.1: An Introduction to Pharmacology Concepts
Watch Module 1.1 Video 1 (3) adverse effects undesirable and potentially harmful
Pharmacology is the study or science of drugs. What is a drug? e.g., effect: medication that can be harmful / damaging to the liver - this
A drug is any chemical that affects the physiologic processes of a living organism. type of medication intake must be monitored.
Commonly, the term drug refers to any medication that is used for diagnosing, curing, or
treating disease. (4) toxic effects undesirable & harmful / life threatening
e.g., effect: e.g., chemotherapy, has a lot of adverse effects; monitored to make sure that
Drug Effects it won’t be too toxic. If it gets too toxic / harmful, treatment may have to be suspended.
Drugs have many different effects on the body including the following: - must be heavily monitored
(1) therapeutic effects,
(2) side effects, Clinically, it is important to recognize the difference between these different ways drugs
(3) adverse effects and can affect the body. A simple side effect could be something as harmless as mild nausea
(4) toxic effects. after taking a medication that can be managed by taking it with food. The drug therapy
can continue without a problem. However, adverse effects need to be assessed to
1. Therapeutic effect is the desired drug effect to alleviate some condition or determine whether there is any risk of harm. Drug therapy is often a risk vs. benefit
symptom. assessment. The patient’s provider should weigh the risk of taking the medication vs. the
benefit. It often comes down to the severity of the disease being treated to decide the
2. Side effects are the drug effect other than the therapeutic effect that are
number of adverse events that will be tolerated. A good example of this is chemotherapy
usually undesirable but not harmful.
treatments for cancer. There are often adverse events associated with these treatment
3. Adverse effect is a general term for undesirable and potentially harmful drug regimens, yet the treatment is continued because the benefit of treating the cancer is
effects. greater than the adverse events the patient experiences. However, there are certainly
4. Toxic effects are undesirable drug effects that implies the drug is poisoning times when a treatment becomes too toxic, and the patient is unable to tolerate the
the body and can be harmful or even life-threatening. regimen. This is often a large part of managing a cancer patient’s treatment, to assess
how they are handling the adverse effects associated with the treatment regimen and
Drug Effects USING DIABETES AS AN EXAMPLE determine whether it is becoming too toxic and needs to be suspended.
Drugs have many different effects on the body including the following:
(1) therapeutic effects the desired effect Basic Concept
e.g., effect: lowers the patient’s blood sugar There are some basic concepts that are important to understand and that can be
applied to any drug. Most important is the drug’s mechanism of action—how a
(2) side effects undesirable but not necessarily harmful (not harmful) drug produces its effects. This course will cover the accepted mechanism of
e.g., effect: some diabetes medication can cause nausea (can be treated) action of known drugs.
, lOMoAR cPSD| 67756003
When a drug enters the body, it has a targeted site of action—the location within agonist, works to activate a physiologic response or drug effect, or an
the body where a drug exerts its therapeutic effect, often a specific drug antagonist, works to interfere with other drugs or substances from producing a
receptor. drug-effect.
Generally, these sites of action or receptors are on the surface or inside a cell.
Receptors are specific cellular structures that a drug binds to in order to produce
a physiologic effect. When a drug binds to a receptor, it can act either as an
Basic concepts
Mechanism of Action It is how the drug produces its effect within the body.
When we discuss about the therapeutics, we will go through the course of actions
of all the drugs we go over when they are known. There are a lot of drugs that we
still don’t exactly know how they produce their effects.
Site of Action Where, within the body the drug actually exerts its effect. In
many cases, it’s called a receptor.
Receptors the location where site of action is.
Receptors are often either on the surface of a cell or inside a cell that drug is
going to bind to the receptor and exert its effect.
Two different ways drugs can exert its effect on receptors: Either as an agonist
or an antagonist.
Going back to that diabetes example:
If the drug is agonist,
, lOMoAR cPSD| 67756003
Agonist the drug is going to bind to the receptor and then cause physiological response to happen.
Diabetes example: So if the receptor generally releases insulin, if the drug is
acting as an agonist; it’s going to bind to that receptor and cause the receptor to
release insulin, hence, lowering the blood sugar in the patient.
If the drug is antagonist,
Antagonist the drug is going to bind to the receptor and prevent / oppose a
certain action / physiological response (blocks it). Diabetes example: the drug
is going to bind to the receptor and prevent the release of insulin.
Or a better example would be preventing the release of sugar, if we’re trying
to lower blood sugar in a diabetes patient.
Summary
An agonist is a drug that binds to the receptor, producing a similar
response to the intended chemical and receptor. Whereas an antagonist is
a drug that binds to the receptor either on the primary site, or on another
site, which all together stops the receptor from producing a response.
https://lx.uts.edu.au/pharmacology/article/agonists-and-antagonists/
, lOMoAR cPSD| 67756003
https://7esl.com/agonist-vs-antagonist/
1.1: An Introduction to Pharmacology Concepts
Watch Module 1.1 Video 1 (3) adverse effects undesirable and potentially harmful
Pharmacology is the study or science of drugs. What is a drug? e.g., effect: medication that can be harmful / damaging to the liver - this
A drug is any chemical that affects the physiologic processes of a living organism. type of medication intake must be monitored.
Commonly, the term drug refers to any medication that is used for diagnosing, curing, or
treating disease. (4) toxic effects undesirable & harmful / life threatening
e.g., effect: e.g., chemotherapy, has a lot of adverse effects; monitored to make sure that
Drug Effects it won’t be too toxic. If it gets too toxic / harmful, treatment may have to be suspended.
Drugs have many different effects on the body including the following: - must be heavily monitored
(1) therapeutic effects,
(2) side effects, Clinically, it is important to recognize the difference between these different ways drugs
(3) adverse effects and can affect the body. A simple side effect could be something as harmless as mild nausea
(4) toxic effects. after taking a medication that can be managed by taking it with food. The drug therapy
can continue without a problem. However, adverse effects need to be assessed to
1. Therapeutic effect is the desired drug effect to alleviate some condition or determine whether there is any risk of harm. Drug therapy is often a risk vs. benefit
symptom. assessment. The patient’s provider should weigh the risk of taking the medication vs. the
benefit. It often comes down to the severity of the disease being treated to decide the
2. Side effects are the drug effect other than the therapeutic effect that are
number of adverse events that will be tolerated. A good example of this is chemotherapy
usually undesirable but not harmful.
treatments for cancer. There are often adverse events associated with these treatment
3. Adverse effect is a general term for undesirable and potentially harmful drug regimens, yet the treatment is continued because the benefit of treating the cancer is
effects. greater than the adverse events the patient experiences. However, there are certainly
4. Toxic effects are undesirable drug effects that implies the drug is poisoning times when a treatment becomes too toxic, and the patient is unable to tolerate the
the body and can be harmful or even life-threatening. regimen. This is often a large part of managing a cancer patient’s treatment, to assess
how they are handling the adverse effects associated with the treatment regimen and
Drug Effects USING DIABETES AS AN EXAMPLE determine whether it is becoming too toxic and needs to be suspended.
Drugs have many different effects on the body including the following:
(1) therapeutic effects the desired effect Basic Concept
e.g., effect: lowers the patient’s blood sugar There are some basic concepts that are important to understand and that can be
applied to any drug. Most important is the drug’s mechanism of action—how a
(2) side effects undesirable but not necessarily harmful (not harmful) drug produces its effects. This course will cover the accepted mechanism of
e.g., effect: some diabetes medication can cause nausea (can be treated) action of known drugs.
, lOMoAR cPSD| 67756003
When a drug enters the body, it has a targeted site of action—the location within agonist, works to activate a physiologic response or drug effect, or an
the body where a drug exerts its therapeutic effect, often a specific drug antagonist, works to interfere with other drugs or substances from producing a
receptor. drug-effect.
Generally, these sites of action or receptors are on the surface or inside a cell.
Receptors are specific cellular structures that a drug binds to in order to produce
a physiologic effect. When a drug binds to a receptor, it can act either as an
Basic concepts
Mechanism of Action It is how the drug produces its effect within the body.
When we discuss about the therapeutics, we will go through the course of actions
of all the drugs we go over when they are known. There are a lot of drugs that we
still don’t exactly know how they produce their effects.
Site of Action Where, within the body the drug actually exerts its effect. In
many cases, it’s called a receptor.
Receptors the location where site of action is.
Receptors are often either on the surface of a cell or inside a cell that drug is
going to bind to the receptor and exert its effect.
Two different ways drugs can exert its effect on receptors: Either as an agonist
or an antagonist.
Going back to that diabetes example:
If the drug is agonist,
, lOMoAR cPSD| 67756003
Agonist the drug is going to bind to the receptor and then cause physiological response to happen.
Diabetes example: So if the receptor generally releases insulin, if the drug is
acting as an agonist; it’s going to bind to that receptor and cause the receptor to
release insulin, hence, lowering the blood sugar in the patient.
If the drug is antagonist,
Antagonist the drug is going to bind to the receptor and prevent / oppose a
certain action / physiological response (blocks it). Diabetes example: the drug
is going to bind to the receptor and prevent the release of insulin.
Or a better example would be preventing the release of sugar, if we’re trying
to lower blood sugar in a diabetes patient.
Summary
An agonist is a drug that binds to the receptor, producing a similar
response to the intended chemical and receptor. Whereas an antagonist is
a drug that binds to the receptor either on the primary site, or on another
site, which all together stops the receptor from producing a response.
https://lx.uts.edu.au/pharmacology/article/agonists-and-antagonists/
, lOMoAR cPSD| 67756003
https://7esl.com/agonist-vs-antagonist/
