Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Metabolism is the conversion of one chemical compound into another. Most metabolism of medicines occurs in the liver in the ‘first-pass effect’, although some processes occur in the gut wall, lungs and blood plasma. On the whole, as medicines are metabolised their therapeutic effect changes. Substances (medicines, toxins, foods, etc.) absorbed into the bloodstream from the stomach and…

It refers to how medicines are distributed throughout the body and reach their intended target. The degree of distribution depends on the medicine’s physical and chemical properties as well as its ability to penetrate cell membranes and blood vessels. For example, not all the medicines can have an effect on the brain because only fat-soluble…

Absorption refers to how medicines enter the bloodstream. A few of the most common ways to administer medicines are: Oral administration (PO: per os – by mouth) is a route where a substance (e.g. tablet, syrup) is taken through the mouth to be absorbed from the stomach or intestine, enters the liver and the general circulation. This…

Pharmacokinetics (PK) is the study of the effect the body has on a medicine. In other words, pharmacokinetics studies four major mechanisms usually identified in many text books with the acronym ADME: Absorption: How the medicine gets into the body Distribution: Where the medicine goes in the body Metabolism: How the body chemically modifies the medicine Excretion: How…