Unit 1 Description of a Pharmacy Grammar

Pharmacodynamics – study of how drugs achieve their effects in living organisms, including their absorption, metabolism and excretion from the living system.

Pharmacology – the study of drugs, their nature, origin and effect on the living organism.

Physicians Desk Reference (PDR) – reference book listing drug products; published privately.

Potentiation – a type of drug action in which the combined effect of using two drugs together is greater than the sum of the effects of using each one alone; also called synergism.

Side effect – a toxic (harmful) effect which routinely results from the use of a drug.

Suppositories – cone-shaped objects containing medication which are inserted into the rectum, vagina or urethra, from which the medication is absorbed into the bloodstream.

Synergism – type of drug action in which the effect of two drugs acting together is greater than the sum of each acting alone; Potentiation.

Tolerance – condition of becoming resistant to the action of a drug so that larger and larger doses must be given to maintain the desired effect.

Toxicology – study of harmful substances and their effect on living organisms.