Pharmacology course is taught as an important branch of medical science. It is one of the largest subject and deals with the action of drug, its processing and fate inside the body. The course covers aspects like pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, toxicity, pharmacometrics etc. Even the aspects of disease and disorders in relation to drug are described in detail. The course is taught at different levels as degree in pharmacology, master in pharmacology and also doctorate in pharmacology.
Pharmacology course is taught with following criteria
Pharmacokinetics deals with absorption, distribution, metabolism (degradation) and its excretion by the body. Absorbtion is how a drug administered into the body like through a tablet, injection etc is taken into the blood stream. Distribution covers the aspect of how drug once absorbed is distributed or circulated through out the body. Further metabolism deals with how a drug is degraded to make it less potent, less toxic and to a state of easy removal from the body. Excretion describes the method or mode of removal of metabolized drug from the body i.e through urine or sweat or breathe etc.
Pharmacodynamics describes the method action of drug inside the body. Not all drugs act inside the body in similar fashion. Every class of drugs have their definite mode of producing the effect on the body.
Pharmacometrics deals with the dose of the drug and number of doses required to produce the desired effect. The doses are fixed per weight of the body and is usually considered as an average of 60kg for a common man in any dosage form.
Toxicology deals with the poisonous effect of drug in the body. It identifies the toxicity produced by body in terms of amount of dose, duration of drug inside the body, the extent of toxicity due to distribution.
Further, the drugs source, chemistry, properties, side effects and other related aspects are covered in pharmacology course.
Pharmacology has branches like Clinical Pharmacology, medical pharmacology and based on the area of work as psychopharmacology, neuropharmacology etc. are sudied.
