Drug Origins, Its Nature, Its Chemistry and The Effects

Pharmacology being derived from two Greek words “pharmakon” which illustrates medicine and “logos” which illustrates study is simply combined to give a definition as the study of drugs. (Michael Adams, Norman Holland and Carol Urban, 2017).

As of today, people have become more dependent on conventional drugs not knowing the damages it may cause as it only gives short term relief. However, the study of drugs is a much more broader perspective hence, in the body of this essay, the discussion of drug origins, its nature, its chemistry, the effects and along with its uses will be further broken down and elaborated. First and foremost drugs is defined as any substance that affects the structure or functioning of a living organism. It is widely used for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases and for the relief of symptoms. (Oxford Dictionary of Nursing, 2014)

Moving on, as drugs come in various forms and varieties, they also originate from various sources which was discovered long ago by medical experts. Some of the main sources of drugs are from human sources, semi synthetic, synthetic and natural sources. However natural sources of drugs is further categorized under specific category like animal, microorganism, minerals and plants. To add on, natural sources via plants are known to includes roots, barks, leaves and seeds; for instance, aspirin which is the medication used to treat fever came from willow barks. Animal source is another whereby the medication is being extracted and manufactured to cure disease and test for sensitivity of bacteria and viruses.

For example; the pancreas of the pig gives insulin to diabetic patients who cannot produce anymore insulin. Microorganism source may include some fungi, bacteria or moulds that can produce important drugs for example, the drug penicillin is made from the microorganism called penicillium notatum. And drugs that are obtained from minerals are ones which are used to treat diseases and other serious illness as part of drug therapy. To illustrate, the mineral ferrous sulphate (FeSo4) is used to treat an anemic patient who lack irons. Similarly, a synthetic source is one which most drugs are being manufactured in labs. These drugs are able to be produced at a much higher yield and considered safe drugs for example, diphenoxylate are antidiarrheal drugs. As well as semi synthetic source that is obtained from the altering the chemical structure of natural drugs for example streptomycin is being derived from penicillin.

Furthermore, every drug is bound to have three special names; a chemical name, generic or nonproprietary name and trade or proprietary name. Firstly, the chemical name is given according to the drug’s chemical properties and composition also representing the nature of the drug for example, the chemical name for diazepam is 7-chloro-,3-dihydro-1-methyl-5-phenyl-2H-1,4-benzodiazepam-2-one. Secondly, the generic name which is known to be a fixed name known throughout the world is being obtained from the drug’s chemical name but usually it appears shorter and easier to remember. An example of a drug with its generic name could be aspirin. Thirdly, the trade name of the drug which is given by the company that manufactures it for instance, one of the trade names for diphenhydramine is called Benadryl. What’s more is that every drug that the body receives through different administrations are bound to be absorbed by the body.

Therefore, absorption is known to be a stage whereby substances start to move, from the site of administration, through the membranes of the body and towards body fluids where it can be carried throughout the body. It is the first factor that represents how long does the drug take to show effects in pharmacokinetics. Nevertheless, absorption has some factors that interfere with its working process such as drug formulation and dose. This is when the type of drug determines the rate of its absorption property for example; liquid medications has faster absorptive properties than capsules. Secondly, the dosage, which is believed that absorption occurs mostly when drug dosages are high creating rapid effect than given in low dosages. Thirdly, the route of administration whereby drugs given through IV has faster absorption as it is directly administered into the bloodstream. The size of the drug molecule is another factor that affects absorption, when certain drug molecule appear bigger in size they tend to delay in being absorbed by the body than smaller molecules.

Also, the surface area of the absorptive site affects absorption where the larger the surface area the faster the absorption of the drug. Another is the blood flow, this is when blood flow in the administrated site is more causing rapid absorption and lastly, the lipid solubility of the drug. As lipid soluble drugs absorb faster, soluble drugs do not. Moreover, drug administration are means and ways in which drugs are being given to cure illness and diseases, thus there are eleven possible ways of administering them to clients. Intravenous, intramuscular, intranasal, transdermal, rectal, vaginal, parenteral, intradermal, nebulizer and inhaler and topical administration. (Galbraith. A, Bullock. S, Manias. E, 2004)

To begin with, drugs administrated through intravenous route is known to have rapid effect as the medication is directly infused into the bloodstream. Also, in case of rapid changes in adverse reactions, the procedure can be stopped before the blood level is disruption. An example of a medication that is administered through IV is the antibiotic cloxacillin, where it is diluted into the IV chamber and given to the client. Intramuscular administration is the injection given to specific muscles because of good blood supply. This enables a much faster absorption rate, for instance, penicillin is administered through IM injection. Intranasal administration are ones which help relieve nasal congestion during colds, however, there are some drugs that are intranasally given like vasopressin. Due to the mucosa that is present in the nasal cavity, absorption takes place. Further on, transdermal administration is when the epidermal layer of the body is used to administer drugs therefore the advantage of such administration is that the drugs can avoid first pass effect in the liver and pass digestive enzymes. A drug that is administered trans dermally can be nicotine which helps a person to stop smoking.

Rectal is another way of administering drugs and is known to be the safest way of administering drugs. Despite its slow absorption, it can be very much reliable and first pass effect is avoided. To add on, vaginal administration which normally treats vaginal pain and infections are being inserted as creams. Nonetheless, any drug that avoids gastrointestinal tract can be called parenteral drug administration. This type of administration is much more prone to pathogenic trespassing hence, aseptic technique is used for instance, the subcutaneous injection. Additionally, the intradermal administration is one that is being injected into the body at a dermis layer and due to the slow pace and absorption, this administration is rarely used. However, it can be used to test for allergies towards certain antibiotics. The nebulizer and inhaler can be another to which drugs are administered especially to the lower respiratory area but can also be at risk for microorganism’s contamination causing further illness. Finally, the topical administration is when drugs are applied onto membranous linings example, eyes, nose and ears. They produce local effect but does have side effects for example, corticosteroids are sprayed into nostrils to reduce inflammation of the nasal mucosa. ((Michael Adams, Norman Holland and Carol Urban, 2017).

Moreover, there are adverse effects that drugs may cause due to prolonged administrations or taking more than one type drugs and can also indicate true drug allergies. Some common effects of drugs are respiratory depression. It is when breathing rate decreases below the normal range of breaths taken in a minute therefore, medications that depress respiration are mainly central nervous system depressants. Another adverse effect is the anaphylactic shock where the blood pressure suddenly decreases making air pathways shorter and certain medications that cause this reaction is the client’s allergies to penicillin. Use of drugs may cause dizziness which normally results from lack of blood flow to the brain and the spinal cord, therefore it is always advised that there must be no heavy labor of any sort or driving when taking medication that causes dizziness. One of the many drugs that cause dizziness are anticonvulsant drugs which is normally used for bipolar disorders, or even antidepressant drugs that is used to treat depression and anxiety. Nausea is another adverse drug reaction where the drug administered begins to irritate the gastrointestinal system making the client fell the urge to vomit for example furosemide medication that is used to treat kidney disorders like nephrotic syndrome causes nauseated feelings.

Lastly, another adverse effects that drugs cause are rashes which is a skin irritation that often results from certain medications or taking more than one medications. Take the illustration of antibiotics or aspirin, the more dependent the client becomes on these medications the more likely it is for rashes to begin. Drug’s adverse effects may only take place provided that there is some sort of drug interaction between its chemicals and the human body or its hormones. Thus, drug interaction can be defined as the alteration of the effects of drugs by reaction with other drugs, with food or beverages or with a preexisting medical condition. (Mosby’s Medical Dictionary, 2009)

These drug interactions are further categorized into four different interactions that are: antagonism, synergism, potentiation and metabolism. Firstly, antagonism is when one drug has the ability to mask the effects of another drug as their absorption can be interrupted in the gut. Secondly, synergism is when two or more drugs can collaborate with each other in one time causing greater effects than using the drugs individually. Thirdly, potentiation which is when one particular drug is able to increase the effect of the other drug, however, it still can cause side effects in the future. Lastly, interaction through metabolism whereby enzymes that metabolize drugs are activated and aid in its absorption and transportation. Additionally, a specific drug of choice that has been chosen is furosemide. This drug is used to cure kidney diseases and high blood pressure and may cause side effects like abnormality in body electrolytes because of its ability to decrease sodium reabsorption in the kidney.

Chemical name is found to be 4-Chloro-2-[(furan-2-ylmethyl) amino]-5-sulfamoylbenzoic acid. Generic name is known as furosemide. And trade or brand name is Lasix. Moreover, furosemide is a synthetic drug that lab technicians manufacture hence, they are not from natural resources and they are produced in tablet at a dose of 20mg, 40mg or 80mg, oral solution at a dose of 8mg/ml or 10mg/ml and IV solution forms at a dose of 10mg/ml, hence, they are either administered orally or through intravenous administration.