Branches of Pharmacology ~ University Notes Old

The discipline of pharmacology can be divided into many sub disciplines each with a specific focus.

Clinical pharmacology

Clinical pharmacology is the basic science of pharmacology with an added focus on the application of pharmacological principles and methods in the medical clinic and towards patient care and outcomes.

Neuropharmacology

Neuropharmacology is the study of the effects of medication on central and peripheral nervous system functioning.

Psychopharmacology

Psychopharmacology is the study of the effects of medication on the psyche (psychology), observing changed behaviors of the body and mind, and how molecular events are manifest in a measurable behavioral form. This is similar to the closely related ethnopharmacology.

Cardiovascular pharmacology

Cardiovascular pharmacology is the study of the effects of medication on the heart.

Pharmacogenetics

Pharmacogenetics is clinical testing of genetic variation that gives rise to differing response to drugs.

Pharmacogenomics

Pharmacogenomics is the application of genomic technologies to drug discovery and further characterization of older drugs.

Pharmacoepidemiology

Pharmacoepidemiology is the study of the effects of drugs in large numbers of people.

Systems Pharmacology

Systems pharmacology is the application of systems biology principles to the field of pharmacology.

Toxicology

Toxicology is the study of the adverse effects, molecular targets, and characterization of drugs or any chemical substance in excess (including those beneficial in lower doses).

Theoretical pharmacology

Theoretical pharmacology is the study of metrics in pharmacology.

Posology

Posology is the study of how medicines are dosed. It also depends upon various factors including age, climate, weight, sex, and time of administration.

Pharmacognosy

Pharmacognosy is a branch of pharmacology dealing especially with the composition, use, and development of medicinal substances of biological origin and especially medicinal substances obtained from plants.

Behavioral pharmacology

Behavioral pharmacology, also referred to as psychopharmacology or ethopharmacology (not to be confused with Ethnopharmacology), is an interdisciplinary field which studies behavioral effects of psychoactive drugs. It incorporates approaches and techniques from neuropharmacology, animal behavior and behavioral neuroscience, and is interested in the behavioral and neurobiological mechanisms of action of psychoactive drugs. Another goal of behavioral pharmacology is to develop animal behavioral models to screen chemical compounds with therapeutic potentials. People in this field (called behavioral pharmacologists) typically use small animals (e.g. rodents) to study psychotherapeutic drugs such as antipsychotics, antidepressants and anxiolytics, and drugs of abuse such as nicotine, cocaine, methamphetamine, etc. study of drugs which affect behavior. Ethopharmacology is a term which has been in use since the 1960s and derives from the Greek word "ethos" meaning character and "pharmacology" the study of drug actions and mechanism.

Environmental pharmacology

Environmental pharmacology is a new discipline. Focus is being given to understand gene–environment interaction, drug-environment interaction and toxin-environment interaction. There is a close collaboration between environmental science and medicine in addressing these issues, as healthcare itself can be a cause of environmental damage or remediation. Human health and ecology are intimately related. Demand for more pharmaceutical products may place the public at risk through the destruction of species. The entry of chemicals and drugs into the aquatic ecosystem is a more serious concern today. In addition, the production of some illegal drugs pollutes drinking water supply .This field is intimately linked with Public Health fields.

Dental pharmacology

Dental pharmacology relates to the study of drugs commonly used in the treatment of dental disease.

University Notes Old