Purposes of medication

The presentation contains a brief description of the uses and purposes of medications/drugs, which can be helpful for pharmacy, medical as well as nursing students and professionals, for any error or objection contact me please

1. Purposes of medication By Dr. Nizar Muhammad (Pharm-D, R.Ph .)

2. What is a Medication? Chemical substance that can have an effect on a living organism The effect may be an intended or therapeutic effect or an unwanted effect

3. Definition “Any substance or combination of substances which may be used in or administered to human beings either with a view to restoring, correcting or modifying physiological functions by exerting a pharmacological, immunological or metabolic action, or to making a medical diagnosis.“ defined by EU law as: "(a) Any substance or combination of substances presented as having properties for treating or preventing disease in human beings ;

4. In the US, a "drug" is: A substance recognized by an official pharmacopoeia or formulary. A substance intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease. A substance (other than food) intended to affect the structure or any function of the body. A substance intended for use as a component of a medicine but not a device or a component, part or accessory of a device. Biological products are included within this definition and are generally covered by the same laws and regulations, but differences exist regarding their manufacturing processes (chemical process versus biological process).

5. BODY PROCESSES RELATED TO MEDICATION USAGE Once administered all drugs go through these processes: – Absorption – Distribution – Metabolism – Excretion

6. Purposes/uses of medication Following are the purposes of medication Diagnose disease Prevent disease Treat disease / decrease symptoms Restore normal function Maintain normal function Uses in interventional therapies

7. Diagnosis of diseases with medication/drugs Medical diagnosis is the process of determining that which disease or condition explains a person's symptoms and signs It can also be performed with the help of drugs Examples Diatrizoate Meglumine and Diatrizoate Sodium dyes are used as contrast media before some X-ray or like procedures. Mannitol is also used as diagnotic material to obtain urine of the patient for examination and to asses kidney functions. Lexiscan ( regadenoson ) is given in preparation for a radiologic (x-ray) examination of blood flow through the heart to test for coronary artery disease. Sodium iodide i 131 (Oral ): When very small doses are given, a measure of the radioactivity taken up by the gland helps your doctor decide whether your thyroid gland is working properly or to locate tumors caused by certain types of thyroid cancers.

8. Prevention of diseases with medication/ drugs Primal and primordial prevention: Any measure aimed at helping future parents provide their upcoming child with adequate attention, as well as secure physical and affective environments from conception to first birthday (i.e., over the child's primal period of life). Primary prevention: Methods used to avoid occurrence of disease either through eliminating disease agents or increasing resistance to disease. Examples include immunization against disease, maintaining a healthy diet and exercise regimen, and avoiding smoking. Vaccines, immunoglobulin etc

9. Secondary prevention: Methods to detect and address an existing disease prior to the appearance of symptoms. Examples include treatment of hypertension (a risk factor for many cardiovascular diseases), cancer screenings. Tertiary prevention: Methods to reduce the harm of symptomatic disease, such as disability or death, through rehabilitation and treatment. Examples include surgical procedures that halt the spread or progression of disease Quaternary prevention : Methods to mitigate or avoid results of unnecessary or excessive interventions in the health system

10. Treatment of diseases with drugs/ medication Drugs are used for the treatment of diseases or to decrease the related symptoms like pain and temperature or loss of functions etc. For example to treat any infectious disease caused by bacteria antibiotics are used Antipyretics e.g. paracetamol is used to relieve high temperature Morphine is used as painkiller etc

11. Drugs used to restore normal functions There are many drugs used for the purpose of restoring normal body functions For example vitamin deficiencies can be restored with the use medication containing vitamins e.g. Vitamin K,E,D,A, B-complex etc. Neurological abnormalities can be treated with antipsychotics, neuroleptics, antidepressants, anxiolytics etc. Similarly autonomic nervous system abnormalities can be controlled with sympatho-mimetics / lytics , parasympatho-mimetics / lytics , etc. For sleep disturbances with sedative, hypnotics etc The same can be used for the maintenance of the normal fuctions of the human body in different health consitions .

12. Drugs used in interventional therapies Beside with the diagnostic uses drugs are also used in surgical interventional procedures Anesthesia is the back bone of surgery Anesthetics are drugs used to induce anesthesia, e.g. halothane, propofol etc. Preansthesia medications are also very important to understand e.g. muscle relaxants, anti secretory etc.