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Pharmacy & Pharmacology vocabulary · Pharmacodynamics and Drug Action

Pharmacology

Meaning in pharmacy & pharmacology, with examples

/ˌfɑrməˈkɑlədʒi/nounCore term

In pharmacy & pharmacology, pharmacology means: The science that studies how drugs act on living organisms, including how they work, what effects they have and how the body absorbs and removes them.

In Turkish: farmakoloji

How it is used

A core subject for pharmacy and medical students, divided into pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, with branches such as clinical pharmacology and toxicology. 'The pharmacology of a drug' means everything about how it works. The adjective is pharmacological; a specialist is a pharmacologist.

Example sentences

  1. We have a pharmacology exam on antibiotics next week.

  2. To answer that question, you need to understand the pharmacology of beta blockers.

Common collocations

  • clinical pharmacology
  • basic pharmacology
  • pharmacology of a drug
  • pharmacology lecture
  • pharmacokineticsThe study of what the body does to a drug: how it is absorbed, distributed, metabolised and eliminated, and how its level in the blood changes over time.
  • pharmacodynamicsThe study of what a drug does to the body: how it produces its effects, which receptors or targets it acts on and how the effect changes with the dose.
  • mechanism of actionThe specific way a drug produces its effect in the body, such as blocking an enzyme, activating a receptor or stopping bacteria from building cell walls.
  • drugA chemical substance that changes how the body works and is used to prevent, diagnose or treat a disease; in everyday speech it can also mean an illegal substance.

More terms: Pharmacodynamics and Drug Action

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.