| A | B |
|---|
| Absorption | uptake of medications into the body through or across tissues |
| Active ingredient | Ingredient in a pure, undiluted form of the chemical that has effects on body functions |
| Adverse reaction | Unintended, undesirable and often unpredictable effect of a medication. (more severe than a side effect) |
| Allergic reaction | hypersensitivity to a drug that may occur after only one dose is taken |
| Anaphylaxis | Severe allergic reaction, possibly fatal, to a drug that occurs a short time after a drug has been administered to a person who is hypersensitive to it. |
| Chemical biotransformation | alteration of medications within the body to prepare for excretion from the body; metabolism |
| Desired effect | intended response to a medication |
| Dispersion | scattering of medication particles throughout the body or throughout a liquid |
| Distribution | dispersion of medication to sites in the body |
| drug | any chemical that has an effect on living processes |
| Drug nomenclature | process of naming drugs, i.e chemcial, generic, and brand names |
| excretion | elimination of medication from the body through respiraton, perspiration, urination, or defecation |
| glycoside | active plant substance that yields a sugar (glyco-) plus an active ingredient |
| hypersensitivity reaction | heightened immune reaction to a medication; state of allergic reaction to a medication |
| ideal drug | drug that is both effective and safe, producing no side effects or adverse reactions; only a theoretical construct |
| inert ingredient | ingredient that has little or no effect on body functions |
| irritant | drug applied to produce inflammation at the site of administration |
| legend drug | drug that requires an order from a licensed practitioner for dispensing (prescription drug) |
| metabolism | physical or chemical processes in the body that inactivate a drug for excretion from the body; biotransformation |
| pharmacokinetics | processing of drugs by the body |
| pharmacognosy | dealing with the origins of drugs |
| pharmacokinetics | processing of drugs by theh body |
| pharmacotherapeutics | effects of drugs in the treatment of disease |
| reconstitution | process of adding a fluid, such as water or saline, to a powdered form of a drug, making a speific dosage strength |
| safe drug | drug that causes no harmful effects when taken in high doses over a long period of time |
| side effect | mild or annoying but expected and fairly common undesirable response to a medication |
| synthetic or manufactured drug | drug that has been created chemically in the laboratory without the use of plant or animal products |
| toxic | poisonous |
| toxicology | study of poisonous effects of drugs |
