1. The Role of Medicines Lesson #1 Ch. 19 Pg. 524-529

2. Interactive study guide
Open iSwifter APP
Drop Down: “Chapter Activities”
Go to: Chapter 19
Next, Open: “Interactive Study Guides”
Open: “Lesson #1”

3. Objectives
Objective 1: Identify differences between medicines and drugs.
Objective 2: Describe how medicines enter the body.
Objective 3: Review the effects of medicines on many different factors.

4. Medicines: are drugs that are used to treat or prevent diseases or other conditions.
Drug: are substances other than food that change structure or function of the body or mind.
Medicines that treat or prevent illness can be classified into four broad categories:
Medicines that help prevent disease
Medicines that fight pathogens
Medicines that relieve pain and other symptoms
Medicines that manage chronic conditions, help maintain or restore health, and regulate body’s systems
Types of Medicines

5. Preventing Disease
Vaccines: is a preparation that prevents a person from contracting a specific disease. These medicines contain weakened or dead pathogens that cause the disease. Your body produces memory cells that recall how to make these antibodies. Protection from some vaccines fade over time. Ex. Tetanus shot.
Antitoxins: Prevent disease. They are usually produced by injecting animals with safe amounts of a specific toxin. This stimulates the animals immune system to produce antibodies. These antibodies are then used to make antitoxins.

6. Fighting Pathogens
Antibiotics: Class of drug that destroy disease causing microorganisms called bacteria.
Antibiotics such as penicillin work either by killing harmful bacteria in the body or by preventing bacteria from reproducing.
Bacteria can develop resistance in 2 ways:
When antibiotics are overused
When the patient does not finish taking the full prescription. The may develop a resistance or immunity to that antibiotic.

7. Fighting Pathogens
Virus: Are piece of genetic material surrounded by a protein coat. They penetrate a host cell to reproduce, eventually killing the cell. Viruses usually run their course and eventually are killed by the immune system
Antiviral: medications often only suppress the virus; they don’t kill it.
Antifungals: can suppress or kill fungus cells, such as athlete’s foot
and ringworm.

8. Medicines that relieve pain
Analgesics: also know as pain relievers
Mild medicines: aspirin
Strong medicines: Narcotics such as morphine and codeine.
Aspirin is used to relieve pain an reduce fever.
Other analgesics fight inflammation, swelling, and fever.

9. Medicines that relieve pain
Aspirin can be dangerous. People under 20 should not be given aspirin unless directed by a doctor.
Reye’s syndrome is a potentially life threating illness of the brain & liver.
Some people take ibuprofen which is recommended for children.
Certain medication (narcotics) can be addictive

10. Managing Chronic Conditions
Antihistamines: allergy medicines
Insulin: used to treat diabetes
Zoloft & Prozac: used to treat depression
Chemotherapy: Using special drugs to shrink or kill the cancer. The drugs can be pills you take or medicines given through an intravenous (IV) tube, or, sometimes, both. (center for disease control)
Radiation: destroys cancer cells, or prevents them from growing, by directing high-energy X-rays (radiation) at the cells. (center for disease control)
Many, many more!!

11. Medicine Interactions
Side effects: Reactions to medicine other than the one intended.
Synergist effect: an interaction of two or more medicines that results in a greater effect than when the medicines are taken alone.
Antagonistic interaction: When the effect of one medicine is canceled or reduced when taken with another.
Additive interaction: When medicines work together in a positive way. Ex. An anti-inflammatory and muscle relaxer for joint pain.
Medicine Interactions

12. Tolerance & Withdrawal
Tolerance: a condition in which the body becomes used to the effect of a medicine. The body requires increasingly larger doses to receive the same effect.
Withdrawal: When a person stops using a medicine which he/she has become physiologically dependent.
Symptoms include; nervousness, insomnia, severe headaches, vomiting, chills, & cramps. These go away over time.

13. Dependence
Psychological dependence: a person believes that a drug is needed in order to feel good or function normally.
Physiological dependence: The user has a chemical need for the drug. The person may experience different levels of withdrawals and in some cases death.