Category: An-An

  • Antimicrobial resistance

    The result of microbes changing in ways that reduce or eliminate the effectiveness of drugs, chemicals, or other agents to cure or prevent infections.

  • Antimicrobial medication

    A drug used to treat a microbial infection. The term “antimicrobial” is a general one that refers to a group of drugs that includes antibiotics, antifungals, antiprotozoals, and antivirals.

  • Antimicrobial drug

    A drug used to treat a microbial infection. “Antimicrobial” is a general term that refers to a group of drugs that includes antibiotics, antifungals, antiprotozoals, and antivirals.

  • Antimicrobial agent

    A general term for drugs, chemicals, or other substances that either kill or slow the growth of microbes. Among the antimicrobial agents are antibacterial drugs, antiviral agents, antifungal agents, and antiparasitic drugs.

  • Antimicrobial

    A drug used to treat a microbial infection. “Antimicrobial” is a general term that refers to a group of drugs that includes antibiotics, antifungals, antiprotozoals, and antivirals.

  • Antimetabolite

    A drug that is similar enough to a natural chemical to participate in a normal biochemical reaction in cells but different enough to interfere with the normal division and functions of cells. So named because the drug inhibits a normal metabolic process. Examples of antimetabolites include 6-mercaptopurine (6MP), methotrexate, and hydroxyurea.

  • Antimalarial

    A drug directed against malaria. The original antimalarial agent was quinine which took its name from the Peruvian Indian word “kina” meaning “bark of the tree.” A large and complex molecule, quinine is the most important alkaloid found in cinchona bark. Until World War I, it was the only effective treatment for malaria. In fact, quinine was…

  • Antiinfective

    Something capable of acting against infection, by inhibiting the spread of an infectious agent or by killing the infectious agent outright. Anti-infective is a general term that encompasses antibacterials, antibiotics, antifungals, antiprotozoans and antivirals.

  • Antihypertensive

    Something that reduces high blood pressure (hypertension).

  • Antihistamines

    Drugs that combat the histamine released during an allergic reaction by blocking the action of the histamine on the tissue. Antihistamines do not stop the formation of histamine nor do they stop the conflict between the IgE and antigen. Therefore, antihistamines do not stop the allergic reaction but protect tissues from some of its effects. Antihistamines frequently cause mouth dryness…