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Anatomyand Physiology

After completing this chapter, you

should be able to:

Define what constitutes a drug.

Compare the differences

between legend and OTC

medications.

Describe the principle of

pharmacology.

Define and compare the

processes of absorption,

distribution, metabolism, and

elimination.

Describe the regulatory

functions of the body.

Describe the basic human cell

structure and cell division.

Explain the basic anatomy and

physiology of the major

systems of the body.

INTRODUCTIONSimply put, pharmacology is the study of drugs and their effects on

the human body. As the saying goes, It takes two to tango. Drug

and body interactions are a two-way street. First there is how the

drug affects the body, known as pharmacodynamics; then there is

how the body affects the drug, known as pharmacokinetics.

Pharmacology is the study of both of these relationships.

CHAPTER

5

L earning Objectives

71

ISBN:0-536-08854-3

The Pharmacy Technician Series: Fundamentals of Pharmacy Practice, by Mike Johnston.Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright 2006 by Pearson Education, Inc.

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72 Chapter Five Anatomy and Physiology

DrugsDrugs, or medications, are substances that diagnose, cure, relieve, treat, or pre-vent disease. Simply, drugs affect our bodies or our bodys processes. In the prac-tice of pharmacy, we deal with two basic types of drugs: prescription and OTC.Pharmacy technicians have to have a working knowledge of both to be effective.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS

Prescription drugs are those medications that can be addictive, easily abused,or are unsafe unless used under the supervision of a prescriber. The federalgovernment lists these medicationsthus the term legend drug. Only a li-censed prescriber can write prescriptions for these drugs, and these drugscan be dispensed only by a licensed pharmacist.

OTC DRUGS (OVER THE COUNTER)

OTC medications are those that the government feels are safe when the clear

and concise directions on the package are followed by the average adult.Many people have the misconception that OTC medications are harmless be-cause they do not require prescriptions. This is a very dangerous misconcep-tion. It is important that the patients profile reflect any OTC drugs he may betaking and that the pharmacist is made aware of that profile, so that properDUR (drug utilization review) and counseling can take place and be effec-tive. OTC drugs are also subject to the laws prohibiting pharmacy techni-cians from providing any advice or counseling.

A Drugs Journey through the Body

Proper medication of any patient requires careful monitoring of the absorp-tion, distribution, metabolism, and elimination of drugs. These processes aredirectly connected to the therapeutic effect the medication will have on thebody. Other issues, such as tolerance and abuse (or dependence), are also af-fected by these processes.

HOW A DRUG ENTERS THE BODY

How a drug enters the body is called the route of administration. This can bethrough the mouth (oral), lungs (inhalant), eyes (ophthalmically), ears (oti-cally), nose (nasal), skin (transdermal), rectum (rectally), or vaginal (vagi-nally); or injected through the skin in several ways (injection). It is

imperative that the pharmacy technician be familiar with the routes of ad-ministration and that he prepare the medications properly.

ABSORPTION

Regardless of how the drug enters the body, it generally cannot work untilit enters the bloodstream. This process is referred to as absorption. Since

ISBN:0-536-08854-3

The Pharmacy Technician Series: Fundamentals of Pharmacy Practice, by Mike Johnston.Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright 2006 by Pearson Education, Inc.

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