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Pharmacology is the science of drugs and medications, [1] including a substance's origin, composition, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, therapeutic use, and toxicology. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between a living organism and chemicals that affect normal or abnormal biochemical function. [ 2 ]
The fraction of bound receptors is known as occupancy. The relationship between occupancy and pharmacological response is usually non-linear. This explains the so-called receptor reserve phenomenon i.e. the concentration producing 50% occupancy is typically higher than the concentration producing 50% of maximum response. More precisely ...
Pharmacotherapy, also known as pharmacological therapy or drug therapy, is defined as medical treatment that utilizes one or more pharmaceutical drugs to improve ongoing symptoms (symptomatic relief), treat the underlying condition, or act as a prevention for other diseases (prophylaxis).
Molecular pharmacology – the discipline of studying drug actions at the molecular level; it is a branch of pharmacology in general. Pharmacogenomics – the study of the human genome in order to understand the ways in which genetic factors determine the actions of medicines. [6] [7]
With worldwide research into pharmacology as well as medicine, traditional medicines or ancient herbal medicines are often translated into modern remedies, such as the anti-malarial group of drugs called artemisinin isolated from Artemisia annua herb, a herb that was known in Chinese medicine to treat fever.
This type of categorisation is from a pharmacological perspective and categorises them by their biological target. Drug classes that share a common molecular mechanism of action modulate the activity of a specific biological target. [6] The definition of a mechanism of action also includes the type of activity at that biological target.
An example of a medication is a prescription drug.. A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease.
Pharmacotoxicology entails the study of the consequences of toxic exposure to pharmaceutical drugs and agents in the health care field. The field of pharmacotoxicology also involves the treatment and prevention of pharmaceutically induced side effects.