Medical pharmacology is primarily concerned with the mechanisms by which drugs treat disease processes, relieve symptoms, and counteract the molecular manifestations of disease. Pharmacology is also concerned with the factors that determine the time course of drug action, including drug absorption, distriburion, metabolism, and excretion.Students are often overwhelmed by the vast amount of
pharmacological information available today. This textbook provides the essential concepts and information that students need to be successfulin their courses without an overwhelming amount of detail.
This text is primarily intended for students who are taking their first course in pharmacology, but it will also be useful for those who are preparing to take medical board or licensing examinations. Because of the large number of drugs available today, this text emphasizes the general properties of drug categories and prototypical drugs. Chapters begin with a drug classification box to familiarize students with drug categories, subcategories, and specific drugs to be discussed in the chapter.
In the four years since the publication of the previous edition of Pharmacology by Brenner and Stevens, major trends in the development and marketing of new medications and new formulations were apparent. First, there was an explosion of combination drugs released onto the market in recent years. This is a good thing, as there is often pharmacological synergy between combined agents, but also because patient compliance is improved. It is easier to take one pill than two,or three, or four. The usual product combines two successful and effective single agents for the treatment of a disorder.These newly approved combination drugs are included in this 5th edition of Brenner & Stevens' Pharmacology.
Second, the market is flush with a number of new immunopharmacology products. Immunopharmacology is now a well-ripened field and the fruits of this discipline are apparent to both the physician and consumer by che new immunopharmacology drugs touted in TV commercials.