pharmacology

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pharmacology

pharmacology study of the changes produced in living animals by chemical substances, especially the actions of drugs , substances used to treat disease. Systematic investigation of the effects of drugs based on animal experimentation and the use of isolated and purified active substances developed in the mid-19th cent. Pharmacologists, emphasizing the mechanisms by which drugs act, draw on the disciplines of physiology, pathology, biochemistry, and bacteriology. Pharmacology embraces a number of sciences, including pharmacodynamics (the study of the action of drugs on a living body), therapeutics (use of drugs and method of administration in treatment for disease), materia medica (study of the source, composition, characteristics, and preparation of drugs), toxicology (the study of poisons and their action and of methods of treating poisoning), pharmaceutical chemistry (chemistry in relation to drugs), and pharmacy (the preparation and dispensing of drugs for medical use).

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"pharmacology." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 21 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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pharmacology

The Oxford Companion to the Body | 2001 | | Â© The Oxford Companion to the Body 2001, originally published by Oxford University Press 2001. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

pharmacology deals with all aspects of the actions of drugs on living tissues, particularly their effects on man. Drugs' actions, both at the molecular level (interaction of drug molecules with receptors) and also at the macroscopic or whole-body level (such as drug effects on the cardiovascular system), are considered. The subject can be divided into two main sections; pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics. The first is concerned with how the effects of a drug are generated, while the second is concerned with how drugs are distributed around the body, how they are metabolized, and how they are finally excreted or eliminated from the body. Discovery of new drugs proceeds by considering how chemical agents can be used to potentiate, inhibit, or modify some cellular or bodily process.

Alan W. Cuthbert

See drugs.

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COLIN BLAKEMORE and SHELIA JENNETT. "pharmacology." The Oxford Companion to the Body. Oxford University Press. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 21 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

COLIN BLAKEMORE and SHELIA JENNETT. "pharmacology." The Oxford Companion to the Body. Oxford University Press. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (December 21, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O128-pharmacology.html

COLIN BLAKEMORE and SHELIA JENNETT. "pharmacology." The Oxford Companion to the Body. Oxford University Press. 2001. Retrieved December 21, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O128-pharmacology.html

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pharmacology

World Encyclopedia | 2005 | Â© World Encyclopedia 2005, originally published by Oxford University Press 2005. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

pharmacology Study of the properties of drugs and their effects on the body. See also pharmacopoeia

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