Classification Of Drugs
Drugs, the word is
not new to us. Amongst many, it creates a frightful response. So far we
have heard that drugs are the substance of addiction and a reason for
the spoiled generation. Yes, they are addictive but all of them are not
harmful. Biologically speaking, they target our brain and switch the
mood and physiological conditions of the body. However, there are legal
drugs as well as illegal drugs. Here we will discuss legal drugs and
classification of drugs.
Drugs: Definition
By definition, drugs are chemical
substances that affect or alter the physiology when taken into a living
system. They can either be natural or synthetic. Chemically, they are
low atomic mass and molecular mass
structures. When a drug is therapeutically active and is used for the
diagnosis, treatment or prevention of a disease, it is called medicine
(legal drugs). They target the macromolecules inside the body and
generate a biological response. Most of them interrupt the nervous
system (especially brain) for the generation of a proper biological
response. However, they can be toxic in higher doses called lethal dose.
Classification of Drugs
Classification of drugs can be done on
the basis of different criteria. Some of the criteria for the
classification of drugs are given below.
On the basis of pharmacological effect:
How a drug or medicine
affects or influences the cells of an organism is referred to as the
pharmacological effect. Drugs have different pharmacological effects on
an organism; say, for example, an analgesic reduces the pain while an
anti-inflammatory drug reduces the inflammation of the body. Thus, drugs
can be classified based on the pharmacological effect.
On the basis of drug action:
Different drugs act differently i.e.,
each drug has its own way of generating response called drug action.
Drug action is more specified according to how it generates a response.
For example, there are lots of medicines to treat hypertension but each
type of drug has different drug action. All the hypertension medicines
reduce the blood pressure but in a different pathway.
On the basis of chemical structure:
This is a common classification of
drugs. Generally, drugs which have same drug action and pharmacological
effect have a basic skeletal structure and a minute variation in the
branching. This is why some drugs have more potential than the other.
For example, all sulphonamides have the same skeletal structure.
On the basis of molecular targets:
Drugs target the macromolecules
inside the body to generate a biological response. Such macromolecules
are called target molecules or drug targets. Drugs which have the same
mechanism of action will have the same target. This basis for
classification of drugs is more helpful during clinical trials.
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