D.1+Pharmaceutical+Products

toc

**D.1 Pharmaceutical Products ** 

D.1.1
**List the effect of medicines and drugs on the functioning of the human body**  Medicines and drugs produce any or all of the following effects:  More specifically,   There is often ambiguity in the definition and classification of drugs and medicine. For example: melatonin is a substance produced by the pineal gland in humans. It is taken by people to bring on the onset of sleep. In the United States, melatonin is classified as a "dietary supplement" and can be bought. In Europe, melatonin is classified as a drug because it has the potential to alter human psychological functions. 
 * alteration of incoming sensory sensations
 * alteration of mood or emotions
 * alteration of physiological state (eg. consciousness, activity levels, physical coordination)
 * Medicines** - synthetic or natural substances that improve health. Medicines improve one's health because they contain beneficial drugs. Their beneficial effect is known as the **therapeutic effect.** **Drugs** - chemicals that affect how a body functions. They come in three broad types:
 * **Description** || **Type of Drug** ||
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Drugs that target **the nervous system**, the **brain** and the **perception of stimuli** || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Analgesics, stimulants and depressants ||
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Drugs that target the **metabolic processes** || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Antacids ||
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Drugs that **supplement** the body’s natural ability to fight disease-causing organisms || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Antibacterials and antivirals ||
 * Placebos**
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Inert drugs often used in research without the effect of the given medicine.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The person not knowing that they are getting the placebo and thinking that they might be getting a therapeutic drugs results in the brain being tricked into thinking the body is getting a therapeutic drug causing the person to feel better (called the **placebo effect**).
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Placebo's show that the brain has the ability to temporarily control the feeling of well being without therapeutic drugs.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">D.1.2
<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">**Outline the stages involved in the research, development and testing of new pharmaceutical products**

Developing drugs and medicine is a long and expensive process.

Procedure: <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> The discovery research stage can take many years because many structural modifications are made to the drug in the process of trying to improve its therapeutic effects and minimize the adverse side effects.
 * 1) <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">isolating the new product from existing species (plants, animals) or synthesized chemically/artificially
 * 2) <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">subjecting the product to laboratory and clinical pharmacological studies (plant and animal testing) to demonstrate its effectiveness
 * 3) <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">testing its effective dosage (ED5O) and lethal dosage (LD50) rates (see D.1.4)
 * 4) <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">establishing its therapeutic index / window
 * 5) <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">testing on humans in an initial clinical trial, on volunteers and patience, half of which are given a placebo
 * 6) <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">processing the product through other tests elaborating on clinical situations
 * 7) <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">having it approved by the drug administration, as either an OTC (over the counter) drug or prescription drug

//Table that displays the research of new drugs and medicines//

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">D.1.3
<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 209);">**Describe the different methods of administering drugs**

Entryway** ||= <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Description / Efficiency** ||= <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Examples** || very convenient. Rate of absorption into the bloodstream from the stomach is low. Absorption occurs mostly in the small intestine ||= <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">tablets, pills, liquids || Passes directly to the bloodstream via the lungs ||= <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">respiratory medications for asthma || absorption from the large intestine to the bloodstream ||= <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">digestive illness treatments, hemorrhoids || precise amounts can be administered and absorption into the blood is fastest of all methods ||= <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">local anesthetics || relatively safe; therefore, larger amounts of the drug may be administered ||= <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">vaccines || work best when administered in a constant area, especially in the thigh, upper arm, or waist ||= <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">dental injections || skin patches; eye or ear drops ||= <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">placed on skin; liquid given directly ||= <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Varies** //skin patch//: absorption from the skin into the blood //eye/ear drops//: liquid delivered directly often targets a single central area, usually that of infection ||= <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">hormone treatment; infection treatment nicotine patches || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Parenteral is the name given to drugs that are administered other than by mouth.
 * = <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Method of Administration** ||= <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Anatomical
 * = <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; color: rgb(255, 216, 0);">**Oral** ||= <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">taken by mouth ||= <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Slow**
 * = <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**<span style="font-size: 120%; color: rgb(219, 57, 57);">Inhalation ** ||= <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">vapour breathed in ||= <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Fast**
 * = <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; color: rgb(0, 125, 255);">**Rectal** (suppositories) ||= <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">insertion into the rectum ||= <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Moderately-Fast**
 * = <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; color: rgb(17, 187, 17);"> **<span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128); font-size: 120%; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Intravenous ** ||= <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">injection into vein ||= <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Fastest**
 * = <span style="color: rgb(17, 187, 17); font-size: 110%; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; color: rgb(17, 187, 17);"> **Intramuscular** ||= <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">injection into muscle ||= <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Slowest**
 * = <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; color: rgb(17, 187, 17);"> **<span style="color: rgb(128, 128, 128); font-size: 110%; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Subcutaneous ** ||= <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">injection directly into fat under the skin ||= <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Medium Speed**
 * = <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; color: rgb(159, 30, 159);">**Other** :

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">D.1.4
<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 209);">**Discuss the terms therapeutic window, tolerance and side effects**

A **therapeutic window** is the range of a drug's concentration in the blood between its therapeutic (ED50) and its toxic (LD50) level. This range is the target range when a drug is administered by a doctor due to the fact that when the concentration is below this, the drug is not effective, and when the concentration is above this, the user of the medicine is endangered.

//An illustration of the therapeutic window// **T****herapeutic index** = ED <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 50 / LD 50 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 1) <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The brain is able to “turn-off” chemical receptors related to the absorption of the drug. 2) The system adjusts its own level of chemicals in order to compensate for a particular drug. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
 * Tolerance**
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Occurs as the body becomes increasingly able to absorb a drug without any effect. The user requires more and more of the drug in order to experience its intended effects.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> This is thought to be because:

Drugs produce two effects - a therapeutic effect and a side effect.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Works Cited Brown, Catrin and Mike Ford. __Standard Level Chemistry__. UK: Heinnemann Baccalaureate, 2008. Derry, Lanna, et al. __Chemistry for use with the IB Diploma Options Course Book__. Melbourne: Pearson Heinemann, 2009. Derry, Lanna, Maria Connor and Carol Jordan. __Chemistry for use for the IB Diploma Standard level.__ Melbourne: Pearson Education, 2008. Neuss, Geoffrey. __Chemistry for the IB Diploma__. New York: Oxford Univ Pr (Sd), 2007.
 * Side Effects**
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Unintended physiological effects occurring from taking a drug.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Can be beneficial or detrimental to the consumer of a particular drug.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">A side-effect of aspirin, for example, is that it lowers the risk of heart disease. A negative side-effect of aspirin is its possible link to a higher risk of getting Reye's syndrome. From this, the risk-to-benefit ratio will be determined: is the risk of side-effects greater than the benefit obtained by taking the medication?
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Thalidomide is an example of a drug where the side effects were misjudged: In the late 1950's and early 1960's this drug was marketed as a sedative and to cure morning sickness in pregnant women (it has gone through all the stages of drug development). Due to the unforeseen side effect of the drug's ability to cross the placenta into foetal blood (did not appear during animal testing or clinical trials), it caused babies to be born with deformed or missing limbs. Learning from past mistakes, regulation in development, research and marketing of drugs has become strict, time-consuming and expensive.