To know the features of clinical trials and why they are important. To know the difference between drug potency and selectivity. 5 To understand that the use of all drugs is associated with some degree of risk of toxicity. To understand the relationship between the therapeutic use of a drug and the accepted risk of toxicity. To know the different ways in which drugs are used in humans.
Pharmacology is the study of the effects of chemical stimuli on biological organisms.
The effects can be beneficial or harmful and the chemicals may be natural, semi-synthetic or synthetic. Work directed towards finding new drugs is carried out mainly in the pharmaceutical industry. The starting point may be the structure of a newly identified endogenous chemical or an enzyme or a receptor. Drugs are evaluated on a range of model systems from isolated cellular components to whole animals. Some effects are easier to measure than others e.g. lowering of blood pressure compared with a reduction in anxiety.