PHAR 100 Exam Test Questions Verified
Answers New Update (A+ Pass)
Drug Use in Ancient Greece - Answers -✔✔ -- In year 380 BC, Theophrastus wrote a
textbook on therapeutics that included opium.
--Serturner, a pharmacist working in Germany in 1803 isolated crystals of morphine
from opium and discovered its pain relieving capabilities
--Opium was found to continue two important substance - Codeine and Morphine
Drug Use in Ancient China - Answers -✔✔ --Drugs were classified according to taste
--The drug Ma Huang was classifies as a medium drug --Was used in Chinese medicine
for coughs, influenza, and fevers
--Modern era, ephedrine has been isolated from Ma Huang and is used to treat asthma,
and is used as a decongestant
Drug Use in Ancient Egypt - Answers -✔✔ --Was recorded on documents called papyri
-One dating from 1550 BC was intended to be a textbook of drug use for medical
students
--Scholars have shown that many were on purgatives, which are drugs used to cause
bowel movements
Curare - Answers -✔✔ Use as a poison
-Indigenous peoples of the Amazon dipped their arrows in curare. This poison acted
upon the voluntary muscles of the animals causing paralysis and death
Use as a drug
-Used by anesthetists during surgery
-Muscle relaxation was achieved, greatly facilitating the surgeons work
-Newer derivatives of curare are used by anesthetists today
Ergot Poisoning - Answers -✔✔ --A poisonous fungus that grows on the heads of rye
-In the middle ages it was ground into rye and found its way into bread creating a
terrible epidemic that killed 20,000 people in one region of Russia
--Effects of poisoning
-Mental frenzy, hallucinations, and convulsions
-Constriction of blood vessels that led to fingers, toes and limbs becoming starved of
their blood supply causing a burning sensation, in extreme cases fell off and died
-Violent contractions of the uterus
Could be useful in hastening labour but if not used appropriately could result in death
Ergot Use as a Drug - Answers -✔✔ --Use as a drug
-Ergotamine
-Useful in treatment of migraines
, -Constricts these blood vessels (pulsation of the arterial blood vessels is what causes
migraines) reducing the amplitude of the pulsation
-Ergonovine
-Used to arrest uterine bleeding after child birth
-No longer used to hasten birth as the force of uterine contractions may be too strong
and the mother may be injured by too rapid delivery of the child
Drug Discovery - Answers -✔✔ --Identifying a biological target for the potential drug is
the first step in the drug development process
-Ex. A target for a new potential drug could be a receptor that, when activated, causes
an increase in blood pressure
--Once a compound that binds well to the target is identified, it will be studied to
determine its pharmacological effects at the molecular, cellular, organ, and whole
animal level
-Ex. Developing a new drug to lower blood pressure, the effect of the drug on blood
pressure would be studied
--If a compound shows promise in these initial studies it is identified as a lead
compound, and enters more detailed studies for safety and efficacy
Preclinical Studies - Answers -✔✔ --Toxicology Studies
-These studies determine the effect of the new drug on organ systems other than the
targeted organ
-All drugs have some toxicity at some dose in some individuals
-Ex. When testing a new drug to decrease blood pressure, organ systems other than
those that regulate blood pressure would be studied
-These studies are expensive and may take up to six years to complete
--Pharmacology Studies
-These studies determine the detailed mechanism of action of the new drug
-Ex. If the drug has been developed to treat high blood pressure, it would be
determined how the drug lowers blood pressure (e.g. does the drug dilate blood
vessels?)
Clinical Trials: Initial Steps - Answers -✔✔ 1. Submit proof of the safety and efficacy of
the drug in several animal species to the government regulatory agency in the particular
country concerned. In Canada, this is the Health Protection Branch. In the USA it is the
Food and Drug Administration
2. The methodology of the proposed clinical trial in humans is required
3. The submission is evaluated by qualified scientists in the regulatory agency. If they
are satisfied with the submission, permission will be given for highly qualified
investigators, usually clinical pharmacologists, to being investigation of the drug in
humans. Particular care is taken, since animal studies will not always predict drug
behaviour in humans no matter how carefully the studies are conducted
Phase I Clinical Trial - Answers -✔✔ 20-100 Volunteers (young, healthy)
, --Are conducted in a limited number of healthy volunteers
--Carefully evaluate the absorption, distribution, elimination, and adverse effects of the
new drug
--Administer one or two doses of the new drug to determine the tolerability of the drug
--Whether the drug is effect is not assessed in this stage
Phase II Clinical Trial - Answers -✔✔ 100-500 Volunteers (people effected by the
disease)
--Are conducted in patients with the disease for which the drug is designed to treat
--Determine whether the drug is effective in treating the condition for which it is
recommended for, in a limited number of people
--Pay careful attention to the safety of the drug
Phase III Clinical Trial - Answers -✔✔ 1000-5000 Volunteers (people effected by the
disease)
--Phase 3 Clinical trials, often called controlled randomized clinical trials are one of the
main studies used for the licensing and marketing of the drug, these studies:
-Test the drug in a large number of people (usually one thousand or more) to obtain
more information on the safety and efficacy of the drug
-Are usually longer than phase 2 studies (months to years)
-Are conducted at centers in many cities (multi-centered), as one center usually does
not have the required number of or diversity of patients
-Are the most expensive part of drug development, it may cost one million- 50 million
dollars
-Determine if the drug is safe and effective
Basic Elements of a Phase III Clinical Trial - Answers -✔✔ -- Target Population - the
people the new drug is tested on, the group of patients for whim the drug is intended
--Study Population- patients are assigned by randomization to ensure that patients with
different characteristics are equally distributed between the treatment and control
groups, maximizing the comparability of the groups
--Blinded Assessment- neither the investigator nor the study subject is aware of the
treatment the subject is assigned to
-Bias can occur if a study subject believes the drug will work
--Treatment- The patients in this group will receive the experimental drug
--Control- the experimental drug has to be compared to a control drug, either a placebo,
or a gold standard drug
-Placebo- a tablet that does not contain any active drug but is identical in appearance,
colour, taste and size to the tablet containing the active drug
-Gold Standard- the drug that is accepted by the medical community as the best
available treatment for the specific disease at that time. If it is available that is what the
control group receives as it is unethical to withhold treatment if one exists
--Outcome- the result of the treatments should be measured in an objective and reliable
manner, if possible.
--Compliance
--Quality of Life
, --Result Analysis
Phase IV Clinical Trial - Answers -✔✔ --Post-marketing, continue assessing
therapeutic value and monitor less common adverse events
--Risks that are delayed or less frequent that 1 in 1000 administrations may be missed
in the Phase 3 trial. Thus, surveillance of the effects of drugs is required after the drug is
released for general use. This phase is therefore referred to as post-marketing
surveillance
Drug Advertising Techniques - Answers -✔✔ --Before and After Technique
-Often the ad will have a person in an undesirable circumstance, then the ad will have a
subsequent picture of the same person after taking the advertised drug who is now in a
desirable circumstance
--Catch audience attention
-In order to catch attention the ad is designed in a way that is effective in drawing the
eye to the advertisement
--Fear
-The tactic is to illicit fear in the person and then provide a drug that will help abate that
fear
--Use of authorities or celebrities to endorse products
-People often trust authorities and admire celebrities both of which can be exploited by
drug ads
--Offering an easy solution to problems
-Focuses on how easy it is to treat the specific disease or ailment with the advertised
drug
--Discredit drugs produced by other manufacturers and praise your own
-The main premise of this is simply to make the new drug look better than other drugs
on the market that treat the same condition as the new drug
Drug Targets - Answers -✔✔ --Drugs are designed to interact with one's selected
target in the body
--The majority of the time these targets for drugs are receptors, however, a few classes
of drugs bind to other targets in the body
Drugs and Receptors - Answers -✔✔ --Most drugs can mimic the action of, or block he
effect of the endogenous ligand at the receptor
--Drugs that bind to and stimulate a receptor are called agonists and drugs that bind to
but block the response at a receptor are called antagonists
--Lock and key analogy
-The receptor is the lock and the drug is the key that turns the lock and sets it in motion
-The antagonist does not have the same compatibility of fit and while it binds to the
receptor it does not activate it
Drug Response - Answers -✔✔ --Dose-Response Relationships
