PSYC62H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Drug Metabolism, Active Metabolite, Neurotransmitter Receptor
Document Summary
Pharmacology consists of two subfields: pharmacokinetics, which is concerned with how drugs more through the body, pharmacodyamics, which is concerned with how drugs cause biological changes in the body. Pharmacokinetic properties, however, have a lot to do with how people use drugs. For example, cocaine users prefer to smoke or snort the drug rather than consume it orally. These different methods of use do not change how cocaine acts in the brain, but they do determine how quickly cocaine reaches the brain: thus, pharmacokinetic issues explain the common administration method for cocaine. Pharmacokinetic properties & drug passage through the body. Pharmacokinetics is the study of how drugs pass through the body. This process involves factors concerning how a drug is administered and how it is absorbed into the bloodstream, permeates different body parts, and is eliminated from the body. A treatment is useless if the drug cannot reach its site of action)*
