Classification Of Drugs And Their Uses...
There are two methods of classifying drugs either by grouping them according to their sources of origin or by arranging them into groups based on their pharmacological action.
Source classification There are four main groups when defined by the first method vegetable, inorganic or mineral compounds, animal products and synthetic drugs.
Vegetable drugs are less used now than formerly, but some potent drugs are still derived from vegetable sources such as morphine from the opium poppy, atropine from belladonna and dioxin from the foxglove.
Mineral salts account for a number of important drugs which are used in medicine. Ferrous sulphate, calcium chloride and sodium chloride are examples of this group.
Animal products are relatively few in number but of tremendous impor-tance. Insulin, for example, is obtained from the pancreas of the ox or pig and many of the immunological products are obtained from the blood serum of specially treated horses.
Synthetic compounds account for the largest number of drugs used today. These are chemicals which are made in the laboratory by organic chemists. Sometimes they are exact copies of compounds which occur in nature such as benzoic acid or camphor but which can be produced more cheaply by synthesis. More often they are unrelated to natural products and include groups such as sulphides, thiamine diuretics, tranquillizers and barbiturates.
Pharmacological classification
The pharmacological classification groups together those drugs which have similar actions or those which have a common site of action. For example, antibiotics are grouped together, as are analgesics or antacids or immunological preparations.
There are two methods of classifying drugs either by grouping them according to their sources of origin or by arranging them into groups based on their pharmacological action.
Source classification There are four main groups when defined by the first method vegetable, inorganic or mineral compounds, animal products and synthetic drugs.
Vegetable drugs are less used now than formerly, but some potent drugs are still derived from vegetable sources such as morphine from the opium poppy, atropine from belladonna and dioxin from the foxglove.
Mineral salts account for a number of important drugs which are used in medicine. Ferrous sulphate, calcium chloride and sodium chloride are examples of this group.
Animal products are relatively few in number but of tremendous impor-tance. Insulin, for example, is obtained from the pancreas of the ox or pig and many of the immunological products are obtained from the blood serum of specially treated horses.
Synthetic compounds account for the largest number of drugs used today. These are chemicals which are made in the laboratory by organic chemists. Sometimes they are exact copies of compounds which occur in nature such as benzoic acid or camphor but which can be produced more cheaply by synthesis. More often they are unrelated to natural products and include groups such as sulphides, thiamine diuretics, tranquillizers and barbiturates.
Pharmacological classification
The pharmacological classification groups together those drugs which have similar actions or those which have a common site of action. For example, antibiotics are grouped together, as are analgesics or antacids or immunological preparations.
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