Tolerance

How it is used

Seen with opioids, benzodiazepines and nitrates, among others. A patient 'develops' or 'builds up' tolerance to a drug or to one of its effects; with opioids, tolerance to nausea is common but tolerance to constipation is not. Tolerance is not the same as addiction, although both can occur with the same drug.

Example sentences

1. Patients usually develop tolerance to the nausea within a few days.

2. A nitrate-free period each day helps to prevent tolerance.

Common collocations

• develop tolerance
• build up tolerance
• tolerance to
• cross-tolerance

Related terms

• dependenceA state in which the body has adapted to a drug, so that stopping it suddenly causes withdrawal symptoms; it can be physical, psychological or both.
• opioidA strong painkiller that acts on opioid receptors in the brain and spinal cord, such as morphine, oxycodone, fentanyl, codeine or tramadol.
• doseThe amount of a medicine taken or given at one time, such as one tablet, two puffs of an inhaler or 5 millilitres of a liquid.
• receptorA protein on or inside a cell that a drug or a natural substance such as a hormone binds to, starting a change in how the cell works.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

• tolerance · Electrical & Electronics Engineering
• tolerance · Mechanical Engineering
• tolerance · Civil Engineering & Construction
• tolerance · Fashion & Textiles

More terms: Pharmacodynamics and Drug Action

• pharmacology
• pharmacodynamics
• agonist
• antagonist
• mechanism of action
• therapeutic index
• efficacy
• potency
• onset of action