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In pharmacokinetics, a loading dose is an initial higher dose of a drug that may be given at the beginning of a course of treatment before dropping down to a lower maintenance dose. [1] A loading dose is most useful for drugs that are eliminated from the body relatively slowly, i.e. have a long systemic half-life.
This is not to be confused with dose regimen, which is a type of drug therapy in which the dose [mg] of a drug is given at a regular dosing interval on a repetitive basis. Continuing the maintenance dose for about 4 to 5 half-lives (t 1/2 ) of the drug will approximate the steady state level. [ 1 ]
Intravenous therapy (abbreviated as IV therapy) is a medical technique that administers fluids, medications and nutrients directly into a person's vein.The intravenous route of administration is commonly used for rehydration or to provide nutrients for those who cannot, or will not—due to reduced mental states or otherwise—consume food or water by mouth.
The solution of this differential equation is useful in calculating the concentration after the administration of a single dose of drug via IV bolus injection: = C t is concentration after time t; C 0 is the initial concentration (t=0) K is the elimination rate constant
To ensure that the drug taker who has poor absorption is dosed appropriately, the bottom value of the deviation range is employed to represent real bioavailability and to calculate the drug dose needed for the drug taker to achieve systemic concentrations similar to the intravenous formulation. [4]
In the simple mono-compartmental case the volume of distribution is defined as: = /, where the in practice is an extrapolated concentration at time = 0 from the first early plasma concentrations after an IV-bolus administration (generally taken around 5 min - 30 min after giving the drug).
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Drug titration is the process of adjusting the dose of a medication for the maximum benefit without adverse effects. [ 1 ] When a drug has a narrow therapeutic index , titration is especially important, because the range between the dose at which a drug is effective and the dose at which side effects occur is small. [ 2 ]