Definition of Clinical Pharmacology

Drugs used in medical treatment must undergo a comprehensive screening process to ensure safety and effectiveness. Clinical pharmacology is an area of study that examines how drugs affect the body and how the body interacts with drugs. It plays a central role in determining how drugs are developed, and marketed.

Identification

• Drugs and how they affect humans is the focus of clinical pharmacology. It's a complex science that serves as a bridge between pharmacology and medical practice. Pharmacology involves the development of new and improved drugs. It includes understanding how a drug affects the body and what conditions it treats. After considerable testing is performed, a number of administrative and legislative tasks must be carried out before a drug can be marketed as a medical treatment. Clinical pharmacology deals with the methods by which drugs are approved for market.

Clinical Trials

• Clinical trials play a big role in determining a drug's safety, effectiveness and potential for side effects. Drug compounds are developed and tested on animals before the clinical trial stage, when humans are used. Placebo groups made up of healthy individuals are first used to determine effective dosage amounts and potential for toxicity. Once completed, a drug is then tested on actual patients as a treatment for whatever condition the drug is designed to target. Data obtained from patient trials is also used to determine the optimal dose-response range

Drug Development

• New discoveries on how the body works provide new areas for drug research and development. Drug compounds are formulated to treat specific conditions or illnesses. They can be created from scratch or based on formulations from known drugs. Once a compound makes it way through clinical trials, it must be reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration before being approved for final testing. This is a costly process by which only one of every 5,000 drugs is approved for medical use.

Pharmacodynamics

• The effects a drug has on the body plays a central role in determining whether or not a particular compound can be used. Pharmacodynamics is the branch of clinical pharmacology that studies how a drug compound affects the body. It involves identifying which receptor sites are most responsive and what types of chemical interactions occur in the body as a result of the drug. For a drug to be effective, it must target specific receptor sites and be chemically compatible with these target areas.

Considerations

• A number of factors can determine how effective a drug will be. Certain physiological conditions will alter how a drug compound reacts with its receptor sites. Physical disorders, age and the presence of other drugs in the system may render a compound ineffective or lead to adverse effects. Aging in particular alters the body's chemistry, changing how receptor sites respond to drug compounds. Other conditions that alter receptor site responses are Parkinson's disease and certain diabetic conditions.