basic pharmacokinetics - pharmaceutical press（基本药物动力学u2014u2014医药出版社）.pdfVIP

1 Basic pharmacokinetics Soraya Dhillon and Kiren Gill Aims and learning outcomes Pharmacokinetics is a fundamental scientific discipline that underpins applied therapeutics. Patients need to be prescribed appropriate medicines for a clinical condition. The medicine is chosen on the basis of an evidence- based approach to clinical practice and assured to be compatible with any other medicines or alternative therapies the patient may be taking. The design of a dosage regimen is dependent on a basic under- standing of the drug use process (DUP). When faced with a patient who shows specific clinical signs and symptoms, pharmacists must always ask a fundamental question: ‘Is this patient suffering from a drug-related problem?’ Once this issue is evaluated and a clinical diagnosis is avail- able, the pharmacist can apply the DUP to ensure that the patient is prescribed an appropriate medication regimen, that the patient under- stands the therapy prescribed, and that an agreed concordance plan is achieved. Pharmacists using the DUP consider: ● Need for a drug ● Choice of a drug ● Goals of therapy ● Design of regimen – Route – Dose and frequency – Duration ● Monitoring and review ● Counselling Once a particular medicine is chosen, the principles of clinical pharmaco- kinetics are required to ensure the appropriate formulation of drug is chosen for an appropriate route of administration. On the basis of the patient’s drug handling parameters, which require an understanding of 2 Basic pharmacokinetics absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion, the dosage regimen for the medicine in a particular patient can be developed. The pharmacist will then need to ensure that the appropriate regimen is prescribed to achieve optimal efficacy and minimal toxicity. Pharmacists th