There is also constant fear that our incredibly increasing self administration of medical compounds will once cause a bigger burden of disease exaggeration like it has never been before. This being via introduction of antimicrobial drug resistance and this is a great topic of concern these days. If you have not been following my articles, you can click on the link below to read more about drug resistance. Antimicrobial drug resistance, a topic of concern. In this article we are going to look at the brief goings of some of the most common medications that we encounter on a daily basis, the reason we take them and the possible predictable outcomes of such substances and if possible, the possible toxicities from them.
FORMULATION OF DRUGS: Drugs are formulated in different ways basing on the systems they are intended to act upon. Some are formulated as capsules for swallowing, some as tablets, others like suspensions and for topical agents as ointments. For each drug formulation, there are intentions as to why it was did that way and not in any way should a patient manipulate a drug without prior advice from a trained medical personnel. Let's say you are give capsules to swallow, it is not advisable at all to open such capsules. The reason drugs are formulated differently is something to do with their pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics which we discussed earlier and if you would like to read more about them, click on the links below. Any attempt to modulate the drug from it's original formulation will change either it's absorption, distribution of metabolism by the body. Pharmacokinetics of drugs Pharmacodynamics of drugs
ROUTES OF DRUG ADMINISTRATION: First, before any drug is taken, there must be a specific route it should undertake. Some drugs are taken via the mouth and we shall later be relating to that as the oral route, other are taken via the nose and we shall be taking that as inhalational route, while for others the drug is injected into the vein and muscle tissue and we shall be addressing those and intravenous and intramuscular route of drug administration respectively. If you have not been following us, click here to read more about routes of drug administration.
MECHANISM OF ACTION: For any drug, there must be a way it interacts with the human body and or microbes and cause a desire effect, which we sometimes we refer to as the drug's pharmacodynamics. It is pharmacodynamics actually that gives a clinician the order of writing a prescription. The mechanism action also helps in understanding the possible side effects, adverse effects and if any the toxic effects of that particular drug and to get details, let us look at a few examples.
EXCRETION OF DRUGS FROM THE BODY: Once taken in and they have finished exerting their effects or reached peak desire concentrations, drugs must be eliminated from the body. This happens to either the unchanged drug or metabolites and end products of such drugs. The chief organs and systems that play this role include the kidney that eliminates most of the drugs via the urine, the gastrointestinal tract that eliminates components through faeces, and for some via the skin and respiratory system.
It should be noted however that, as long as many drugs may be tablets, there maybe their equivalents in syrups, suspensions and or ointments and it turns out that, you only have to use any drug formulation prior to consultation from a trained medical personnel.
Each of the drug routes used during drug administration has a purpose and not at any point a drug should be administered via a non intended route.
1. An infection by Salmonella bacteria will require a drug that can kill the bacteria and in that case, and antibiotic will be indicated, with it's mechanism of action being bacteriacidal.
2. An asthmatic attack will mean we are having impared gaseous exchange and in that case one of the drugs to be indicated, will have a potential to widen the brochi, being a brochodilator by mechanism of action.
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