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Pharmacology is a specialized interdisciplinary branch of biology and medicine that focuses on medicinal practices and the actions and reactions of drugs on the body. Pharmacology in its broadest sense is the study of how the body’s actions and reactions to external chemicals affect normal or abnormal biochemical processes. If the chemical is a medicine beneficial to the body, then its study is called therapeutics. On the other hand, if the chemical substance is essentially harmful to the body, then its study is called toxicology. But in the general sense, useful drugs, i.e., all the knowledge related to chemical substances which have curative properties and whose use is medically safe, is the subject of pharmacology. The English term pharmacology is derived from the Greek words pharmacon (“Pharmacon”, one of the many lexical meanings of which is “medicine”) and “Logos” (“Logos”, meaning “science”).
Pharmacologists determine the therapeutic index of drugs. That is, they determine the relative benefit relative to toxicity of drugs given at different doses. As a result, it is possible to define at what dosage the drug will give the maximum benefit to the patient. As many drugs are metabolized more slowly in the body of an elderly person, these drugs need to be given less frequently. Also, because many chemicals are excreted through the kidneys, people with kidney disease may have problems excreting the drug. All these are under the consideration of pharmacists.
Doctors who specialize in medicine are called “clinical pharmacists”. Medicine preparers and pharmacists who work in hospitals also have special knowledge of medicine, and they can advise doctors on the best use of medicines.
The two main branches of pharmacology are pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. When the medicine enters our body, the body starts working on it directly. Absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion of drugs in the body are the topics of pharmacology. The mechanism by which drugs act on the body is largely intact without the role of a consumer, since it is this consumer that helps the drug to act on the body by virtue of its selectivity. On the other hand, the action of drugs or chemicals on the body is mainly the subject of pharmacology. The dosage or “course” of medication and the duration of its pharmacological action are determined in the light of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. There is a difference between pharmacology and the science of drug preparation and use (pharmacy in English terms). Pharmacology deals with how drugs affect organisms or biological media and how drugs are affected by organisms or biological media. On the other hand, Pharmacology is a biomedical science that deals with the preparation, use and administration of drugs by applying the knowledge derived from Pharmacology.
