| A | B |
|---|
| Synergy | The use of two drugs together provides a greater effect than the sum of the original drugs. |
| Therapeutic Index | An assessment of a drug having more safety at an acceptable level of potency or more potency at an acceptable level of safety within the recommended drug dosage. |
| Threshold Dose | A dose of a drug that is just enough to produce its desired effect. |
| Tolerance | The reduced effectiveness of a drug after repeated administrations. |
| Toxic Effects | An effect of a drug that is harmful or lethal to the user. |
| Potentiation | A situation where the result of one drug is increased by the use of another drug that has no effect |
| Receptors | The part of a cell that responds to an administered drug. |
| Selectivity | The ability of a drug to affect one type of cell over others. |
| Side Effects | Undesirable effects from drug treatment that are not intended as part of the therapeutic effect. |
| Accumulation | The amount of a medication found within a bodily fluid at a specific point when a steady state has been attained. The point of equality between drug administration and drug elimination. |
| Adverse Effects | A harmful and undesired effect |
| Affinity | The extent to which one substance tends to want to bind with another. |
| Agonist | A drug that binds to and activates a receptor. |
| Allergic Response | A situation in which the body forms antibodies against a specific drug, causing a physical reaction that may or may not be severe. |
| Antagonist | A drug that attenuates the effect of an agonist. |
| Bioavailability | The amount of a drug dosage that is absorbed into circulation after administration of a specific dosage. |
| Biotransformation | The chemical change of a drug that happens due to the effects the body has on it. |
| Clinical Efficacy | The ability of a medication to produce a change in its intended cell receptor |
| Desensitization | A reduction in response to an agonist while it is continuously present at the receptor, or progressive decrease in response upon repeated exposure to an agonist |
| Distribution | The volume within a person in which the administrated drug appears to have been dispersed. Also known as volume of distribution. |
| Dosage Form | The physical structure and appearance in which the drug to be administered is in for use. |
| Dose | he amount or form of a drug that is given to a user. |
| First Pass Effect | The absorption of a drug through the liver or intestines when taken in through the gastrointestinal tract but before reaching systemic circulation. |
| Generic Drugs | Drugs that have exactly the same ingredients and effectiveness as another, named drug or formulary |
| Half Life | The time it takes for a drug concentration within the body to be reduced by one half of its original amount |
| Hypersensitivity | The necessary condition for a person to show an allergic response to a drug. |
| Idiosyncratic Response | An abnormal response from a drug that is specific to the person having the response. |
| Loading Dose | The first dose of a series that is larger than subsequent doses. |
| Maintenance Dose | The doses in a series that follow the initial loading dose. |
| Partial Agonist | drugs that bind to and activate a given receptor, but have only partial efficacy at the receptor relative to a full agonist. |
| Pharmacodynamics | The study of how drugs produce their effects on the body. |
| Pharmacogenetics | The study of the inheritance of certain interactions from drugs on the human body. |
| Pharmacokinetics | The study of absorption, distribution, and biotransformation of drugs on the body. |
| Pharmacology | The study of the features and characteristics of drugs and medications |
| Potency | A measure of the concentrations of a drug at which it is effective. |
| Narrow Therapeutic Index | A very close margin between the concentration in the blood circulation of a drug that is therapeutic and the concentration that is lethal (deadly). |
| Off-Label Drug Use | Medication being used in a manner not specified in the FDA's approved packaging label, or insert. |
