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- Dictionarydrug/drʌɡ/
noun
- 1. a medicine or other substance which has a physiological effect when ingested or otherwise introduced into the body: "a new drug aimed at sufferers from Parkinson's disease" Similar
verb
- 1. administer a drug to (someone) in order to induce stupor or insensibility: "they were drugged to keep them quiet" Similar
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How to use drug in a sentence. a substance used as a medication or in the preparation of medication; a substance recognized in an official pharmacopoeia or formulary… See the full definition
A pharmaceutical drug, also called a medication or medicine, is a chemical substance used to treat, cure, prevent, or diagnose a disease or to promote well-being. [3] Traditionally drugs were obtained through extraction from medicinal plants, but more recently also by organic synthesis. [4] Pharmaceutical drugs may be used for a limited ...
- Overview
- Mechanisms
drug, any chemical substance that affects the functioning of living things and the organisms (such as bacteria, fungi, and viruses) that infect them. Pharmacology, the science of drugs, deals with all aspects of drugs in medicine, including their mechanism of action, physical and chemical properties, metabolism, therapeutics, and toxicity. This article focuses on the principles of drug action and includes an overview of the different types of drugs that are used in the treatment and prevention of human diseases. For a discussion of the nonmedical use of drugs, see drug use.
Until the mid-19th century the approach to drug therapeutics was entirely empirical. This thinking changed when the mechanism of drug action began to be analyzed in physiological terms and when some of the first chemical analyses of naturally occurring drugs were performed. The end of the 19th century signaled the growth of the pharmaceutical industry and the production of the first synthetic drugs. Chemical synthesis has become the most important source of therapeutic drugs. A number of therapeutic proteins, including certain antibodies, have been developed through genetic engineering.
Drugs produce harmful as well as beneficial effects, and decisions about when and how to use them therapeutically always involve the balancing of benefits and risks. Drugs approved for human use are divided into those available only with a prescription and those that can be bought freely over the counter. The availability of drugs for medical use is regulated by law.
Drug treatment is the most frequently used type of therapeutic intervention in medicine. Its power and versatility derive from the fact that the human body relies extensively on chemical communication systems to achieve integrated function between billions of separate cells. The body is therefore highly susceptible to the calculated chemical subversion of parts of this communication network that occurs when drugs are administered.
With very few exceptions, in order for a drug to affect the function of a cell, an interaction at the molecular level must occur between the drug and some target component of the cell. In most cases the interaction consists of a loose, reversible binding of the drug molecule, although some drugs can form strong chemical bonds with their target site...
Learn the meaning of drug as a noun and a verb in English, with examples of different types of drugs and their uses. Find out how to pronounce drug and see translations in other languages.
Learn the meaning of drug as a noun and a verb in English, with synonyms, collocations, and usage examples. Find out the difference between medicine and illegal substance, and how to pronounce drug in different languages.
6 meanings: 1. any synthetic, semisynthetic, or natural chemical substance used in the treatment, prevention, or diagnosis of.... Click for more definitions.
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Learn the meaning of drug as a noun and a verb, with examples of different types of drugs and their effects. Find out how to use drug in a sentence and avoid common mistakes.
