A Profile of Various Drug Classifications

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For many years, medicines and drugs have been developed to treat many different illnesses. Vaccinations have been made to treat wide epidemics, like small pox, and most recently the H1N1 virus. Over-the-counter drugs have been produced to help reduce acid reflux and swelling. Even with these discoveries, there is still more drugs that have yet to be made to treat diseases like cancer and AID’s. When pharmacists study medicine and drugs, it’s important for the scientists to understand how drugs are used to help with the functioning of the body.

Microorganisms attack billions of humans and animals bodies everyday. These microorganisms are known as invaders. These invaders cause the body to respond as different lines of defense. Examples of non-specific defense mechanisms are the skin, mucus, white blood cells, and blood clotting which defend invaders. Examples of specific defense mechanisms are antibodies and memory cells.

Another phrase for medicine and drugs is pharmaceutical products. These products include different types of medicines and drugs. A drug is “a chemical that affects how the body works” (Brown). A drug will change the body if negative or positive ways. Drugs like heroin and cocaine could essentially harm the body. A medicine is “a substance that improves health” (Brown). Medicines usually have a therapeutic effect to the body because they are beneficial drugs. In general, “medicine or drug is any chemical that alters the physiological state, including consciousness, activity level or coordination, incoming sensory sensations, or moods and emotions” (“Option”). The placebo effect is a controversial topic that has been used as a therapeutic drug that isn’t really drug. The patient believes they are taking a usef...

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