COURSE OBJECTIVES
Pharmacology (an amalgam of the Greek pharmakos, medicine or drug, and logos, study is a broad discipline describing the use of chemicals to treat and cure disease. Pharmacology is concerned primarily with the characterization of the properties and modes of action of drugs and with the discovery of new drugs. The study and practice of pharmacology also includes drug toxicity, the way drugs are used and the processes by which drugs are absorbed, distributed in the body, metabolized and excreted. There are sub-disciplines within pharmacology representing specialty areas. Pharmacological knowledge and understanding improves the lives of millions of people across the world by providing vital answers at every stage of the discovery, testing and clinical use of new medicines. The ability to use medicines effectively, to maximise their benefit and minimise risk and harm, relies on this knowledge. Pharmacology is also crucial for discovering new medicines to help fight diseases such as cancer, depression, heart disease and infectious diseases.
COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES (CLO)
CLO: 1. To discuss classification with therapeutic uses of drugs acting on central nervous system and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
CLO: 2. To explain pharmacokinetics, mechanism of action and adverse effects of drugs acting on central nervous system and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
CLO: 3. To apply the knowledge of pharmacology to clinical practice in relation to the choice of therapeutic agent, route of drug administration and adverse effects.
COURSE CONTENTS
- DRUGS ACTING ON CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM:
- Sedatives & Hypnotic
- Anxiolytics, antidepressants and antimanic drugs
- Antiepileptics
- Antiparkinsonian and drug used in other neurodegenerative diseases.
- Antipsychotics
- Opioid analgesics
- Therapeutic gases (Oxygen, Carbon-dioxide, Nitric oxide and Helium.
- Cerebral Stimulants, Medullary stimulants, Spinal Cord Stimulants.
- _General and local
- NON-STEROIDAL ANTI-INFLAMMATORY DRUGS:
- Disease modifying drugs, antirheumatic drugs, non-opioid analgesics and drugs used in the treatment of gout.