Pharmacology
in 7 Days for
Medical Students
FAZAL-I-AKBAR DANISH
CT2 in Medicine
Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend
and
AHMED EHSAN RABBANI
Final Year Medical Student
Foundation University Medical College (FUMC)
Rawalpindi, Pakistan
Radcliffe Publishing
Oxford • New York
CRC Press
Taylor & Francis Group
6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300
Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742
© 2010 by Fazal-I-Akbar Danish
CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business
No claim to original U.S. Government works
Version Date: 20160525
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-138-03114-2 (eBook - PDF)
This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. While all reasonable efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, neither the author[s] nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publishers wish to make clear that any views or opinions expressed in this book by individual editors, authors or contributors are personal to them and do not necessarily reflect the views/ opinions of the publishers. The information or guidance contained in this book is intended for use by medical, scientific or health-care professionals and is provided strictly as a supplement to the medical or other professional’s own judgement, their knowledge of the patient’s medical history, relevant manufacturer’s instructions and the appropriate best practice guidelines. Because of the rapid advances in medical science, any information or advice on dosages, procedures or diagnoses should be independently verified. The reader is strongly urged to consult the relevant national drug formulary and the drug companies’ and device or material manufacturers’ printed instructions, and their websites, before administering or utilizing any of the drugs, devices or materials mentioned in this book. This book does not indicate whether a particular treatment is appropriate or suitable for a particular individual. Ultimately it is the sole responsibility of the medical professional to make his or her own professional judgements, so as to advise and treat patients appropriately. The authors and publishers have also attempted to trace the copyright holders of all material reproduced in this publication and apologize to copyright holders if permission to publish in this form has not been obtained. If any copyright material has not been acknowledged please write and let us know so we may rectify in any future reprint.
Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Law, no part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publishers.
For permission to photocopy or use material electronically from this work, please access www.copyright.com (http://www. copyright.com/) or contact the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC), 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750- 8400. CCC is a not-for-profit organization that provides licenses and registration for a variety of users. For organizations that have been granted a photocopy license by the CCC, a separate system of payment has been arranged.
Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at http://www.taylorandfrancis.com
and the CRC Press Web site at http://www.crcpress.com
Contents
Preface |
iv |
|
About the authors |
v |
|
Contributors |
vi |
|
1 |
General pharmacology |
1 |
2 |
Classifications |
11 |
3 |
Mechanisms of action |
51 |
4 |
Therapeutic uses and side effects |
96 |
5 |
Drug differences |
131 |
6 |
Miscellaneous |
141 |
7 |
Important tables |
146 |
Index |
153 |
|
Preface
Pharmacology is a volatile subject with a ‘very short half-life’. One can cram 20 side effects of a single drug but when one is required to memorise the side effects of 150 drugs, everything gets jumbled up. The same holds true for the lists of therapeutic uses and drug classifications that pharmacology students have to memorise and reproduce in the exam setting. No wonder that many medical students fail in pharmacology not because they haven’t ‘studied’ the subject but simply because they haven’t ‘retained’ the subject matter. This book is written to help solve a very specific and practical problem: how to reproduce the pharmacology subject matter in the exam setting.
First, instead of dividing the syllabus in the conventional way, i.e. ‘systems’, it is being divided into classifications, mechanisms of action, therapeutic uses, side effects, etc. In the current exam format, it is very unlikely that someone would ask to write an ‘essay’ on a given drug; instead, very specific questions are asked, like ‘give the therapeutic uses of drug “A”’, or ‘enumerate the side effects of drug “B”’, etc. Examiners are more interested in asking, for example, the side effects of chloramphenicol so that students know why this drug is not used commonly any more, as compared to the mechanism of action of this drug. Thus, in the chapter on side effects, the side effects of most commonly asked drugs are given; in the chapter on mechanisms of action, the mechanisms of action of most commonly asked drugs are given.
The book may appear deficient in the classical sense – it may contain the side effects of a given drug, with no mention of its mechanism of action or therapeutic uses. But the very aim of writing this book was not to write another treatise of everything about every drug, but to ‘distil’ the information that is directly and specifically relevant to the exams. The book thus truly deserves its title, Pharmacology in 7 Days for Medical Students. Students can forget everything they have ever studied about pharmacology in the last seven days prior to the exams, cram this 166-page book and (still) hold a bright chance of passing every and any pharmacology exam.
Fazal-I-Akbar Danish
Ahmed Ehsan Rabbani
January 2010
iv