Pharmacological Study

Pharmacology is the study of drugs - what they are, how they work and what they do. It includes the study of the manner in which the function of living tissues and organisms is modified by chemical substances and the study of the effect of chemical agents on living processes.

Pharmacology is commonly subdivided into pharmacodynamics (the biological effects of drugs) and pharmacokinetics (absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion), also expressed as, respectively, the effects of drugs on the body and the effect of the body on drugs.To many, the word 'drug' suggests a dangerous substance to which young people become ruinously addicted. To a pharmacologist, however, the word 'drug' really means any chemical substance which changes normal body function and so includes medicines as well as poisons and drugs of abuse.

The subject is immensely broad and covers large areas of physiology, biochemistry and toxicology, all of which are concerned with the effects of chemicals on living organisms.

Three important aspects of pharmacology are:

• The use of drugs to study physiological mechanisms

• The use of drugs in medicine

• Understanding the biological effects of environmental chemicals