Drug Action
The action of drugs on the human body is called pharmacodynamics, and what the body does with the drug is called pharmacokinetics. The drugs that enter the human tend to stimulate certain receptors, ion channels, act on enzymes or transporter proteins. As a result, they cause the human body to react in a specific way.
There are two different types of drugs:
- Agonists - they stimulate and activate the receptors
- Antagonists - they stop the agonists from stimulating the receptors
Once the receptors are activated, they either trigger a particular response directly on the body, or they trigger the release of hormones and/or other endogenous drugs in the body to stimulate a particular response.
Read more about Drug Action: Short Note On Receptors, How Shape of Drug Molecules Affect Drug Action
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