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Pharmacology


Pharmacology

In common terms, pharmacology is the science of the consequences of drugs on biological systems. In its totality, pharmacology includes knowledge of the sources, chemical properties, biological effects and therapeutic uses of drugs.

It is a science that is fundamental not only to medicine, but also to pharmacy, radiology, nursing, rehabilitation and other.

Pharmacological analysis vary from those that study the effects of chemical agents on subcellular apparatuses, to those that dealing the potential vulnerabilities of pesticides and herbicides, to those that centre on the treatment and prevention of major illnesses with drug therapy.

Pharmacologists also apply molecular modelling and computerized design as drug invention tools to comprehend cell function. New pharmacological areas include the genomic and proteomic methods for therapeutic treatments.

Pharmacology is the study of the therapeutic importance and/or possible toxicity of chemical agents on biological systems. It pursues each aspect of the mechanisms for the chemical actions of both conventional and novel therapeutic agents.

Two essential and interconnected areas are: pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics. Pharmacodynamics is the study of the molecular, biochemical, and physiological effects of drugs on cellular systems and their mechanisms of action. Pharmacokinetics deals with the absorption, distribution, and excretion of drugs.

More basically positive, pharmacodynamics is the study of how drugs take effect on the body while pharmacokinetics is the study of how the body works on drugs.

Pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic qualities of the action of chemical agents are germane to all related areas of study, as well as toxicology and therapeutics. Toxicology is the study of the difficult or toxic effects of drugs and other chemical agents.

The pharmacological sciences can be further subdivided:

  • Neuropharmacology is the study of drugs on components of the nervous system, as well as the brain, spinal cord, and the nerves that connect with all parts of the body.

  • Cardiovascular pharmacology relates to the effects of drugs on the heart, the vascular system, and those parts of the nervous and endocrine systems that contribute in variable cardiovascular function.

  • Molecular pharmacology deals with the biochemical and biophysical characteristics of relations between drug molecules and those of the cell.

  • Biochemical pharmacology works the methods of biochemistry, cell biology, and cell physiology to resolve how drugs act together with, and influence, the chemical "machinery" of the organism.

  • Behavioral pharmacology studies the effects of drugs on behavior.

  • Endocrine pharmacology is the study of actions of drugs that are either hormones or hormone derivatives, or drugs that may modify the actions of normally secreted hormones.

  • Clinical pharmacology is the function of pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics to patients with illnesses and now has a considerable pharmacogenetic component.

  • Chemotherapy is the area of pharmacology that dealing drugs used for the treatment of microbial infections and malignancies.

  • Systems and integrated pharmacology is the study of complex systems and whole animal model contacts to best predict the effectiveness and utility of new treatment modalities in human experiments.