Class of Drug | Intended Action |
Prophylactic | Prevent disease rather than treat it afterwards. |
Analgesic | Reduce or eliminate pain. (See Yellow Corydalis and Opium Poppy) |
Sedatives | To sedate or calm. (See Common Valerian) |
Antibiotic | Eliminate a bacterial infection. |
Antispasmodic | Reduce muscle twitches / cramp. |
Antacids | Neutralise excess acid in the stomach. |
PPI (Proton Pump Inhibitor) | Prevent excess stomach acid. |
Cytoprotectant | Protects against stomach ulcers by increasing mucosal lining rather than reducing stomach acid. |
Laxative | Relieve constipation. |
Antiflatulent | Reduce wind. |
Antidiarrhoeals | Prevent diarrhoea. |
Cardiac Glycosides | Slow the rhythm and increase the force of the heart (See Foxglove and Lily-of-the-Valley) |
Antiarhythmic | Treat abnormal heart rhythms. |
Antianginals | Treat angina, a dangerous and painful condition of the heart muscles caused by lack of sufficient oxygen getting to them. |
Vasoconstrictor | Constrict blood vessels |
Vasodilator | Dilate blood vessels. |
ACE Inhibitor (Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitor) | Block the action of a hormone produced by the kidneys and which constricts blood-vessels. |
Alpha Blockers | Block the peripheral actions of catecholamines, e.g. on blood vessels and the bladder |
Beta Blockers | Blocks the central actions of catecholamines, e.g. on the heart and lungs |
Diuretic | Induce Urination |
Anticoagulant | Reduce ability of blood to clot |
Antiplatelet | Reduce the stickiness of blood platelet cells. |
Fibrinolytic | 'Clot busters' for Deep Vein Thrombosis, etc. |
Statins / Hypolipidaemics | Reduce blood cholesterol. |
Hypnotic | Induce Sleep. |
Local Anaesthetic | Relieve pain locally during an operation |
General Anaesthetic | Induce unconsciousness for an operation |
Antipsychotic | Treat Psychosis |
Anti-depressant | Treat Depression |
MAO Inhibitor | Prevent breakdown of brain catecholamines; this can treat depression. Very powerful drugs, with powerful side-effects and interactions. |
Acetylcholine Esterase Inhibitor | (A specific MAO Inhibitor). Prevents breakdown of acetylcholine. Treats Alzheimers and other memory problems. (See Snowdrop) |
Cholinergic | Increases the activity of acetylcholine at nerve-endings |
Anticholinergic | Decreases the activity of acetylcholine at nerve-endings |
Anticholinesterase | Prevents breakdown of acetylcholine at nerve endings |
SSRI | Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors, used as anti-depressants. (Serotonin is another monoamine) |
5-HT antagonist | Specialised anti-emetics treating nausea and vomiting |
Antidopaminergic | Blocks the action of dopamine |
Anti-emetic | Stop stomach purging. |
Anti-convulsant | Stop involuntary and repeated flexure of limbs, e.g. during an epileptic fit. |
Anti-epileptic | Counteracts epilepsy |
Anxiolytic | Reduce anxiety. |
Barbiturate | Depress the Central Nervous System. |
Stimulant | Stimulate the Central Nervous System |
Antihistamine | Reduce inflammation caused by an external irritant, e.g. wasp sting, pollen allergy. |
Emetic | Induce vomiting. |
Bronchodilator | Relieve spasm in bronchioles during an asthma attack. (See Yellow Horned-Poppy) |
Mydriatic | To dilate the pupil of the eye. (See Henbane) |
Antitussive | Suppress and relieve coughs. |
Mucolytic | Loosen mucous from lungs and air-passages. |
Decongestant | Relieve nasal congestion. |
Anti-diabetic | Reduce the blood-glucose level in the treatment of diabetes. (See Goat's-Rue) |
Antipruritic | Reduce itching |
Ascaricide | Treat worm infestations |
Antimalarial | Counteract Malaria |
Anthelmintic | Treat internal worms (See Agrimony) |
Antiprotozoal | Treat a protozoal infection. |
Amoebicide | Treat an amoebal infestation. |
Taeniacide | Treat for worm infection. |
Antifungal | Treat a fungal infection. |
Antiviral / Virucidal | Prevents replication of virii within a mammal. |
Vaccine | Provide protection from a particular virus, usually before but can be after infection. Increases immunity to that virus. |
Antitoxins | Neutralise, counter or sequester ingested poisons. |
Sudorific | Induce sweating. |
Antipyretic | Reduce elevated body temperature. |
Anti-inflammatory | Reduces or prevents inflammation of the skin or membranes. (See Horse-Chestnut) |
NSAID | [Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug] - reduce inflammation. (See Meadowsweet) |
HDAC (a Histone DeAcetylase) | Prevents progression into shock following large loss of blood. (See Common Valerian) |
Anorexiant | Reduces body weight. |
There are innumerable different drugs associated with each Class of Drug, some more effective than others, and others very much more expensive, but certainly not necessarily more effective. With drugs especially, you don't get what you pay for: those still useful drugs that are out of patent (so called 'generic' drugs) can be much cheaper than newer and not necessarily more effective drugs that are still within patent. It should be remembered that most drugs have un-intended side effects. The side effects can vary even within the same class of drugs. However, there are some drugs whose side effects are un-avoidable. For instance, an anti-coagulant, which reduces the ability of the blood to clot (thereby avoiding errant and dangerous clotting within the blood vessels themselves) will automatically increase the propensity for un-intended, but unavoidable, internal bleeding, which can be just as dangerous. Normally, internal bleeding from capillaries happens all the time, but the consequences are usually benign, for once escaped, the platelets coagulate externally from the capillaries to block any further flow. If the ability of the blood to clot is removed (by administering an anti-coagulant) then this process is prevented from occurring, resulting in potentially fatal internal bleeding. The dose of any drug needs to be carefully controlled and the effects monitored to try to reduce the severity of un-intended side effects such as these. Side effects like the one described above can be designed out. If, instead of reducing the ability of the blood to clot, a drug was found that reduces the ability of platelets to stick to the internal walls of (un-broken) blood vessels, but does not affect its ability to clot (conglomerate together) once outside those blood vessel, then this would circumvent this particular side effect. Such drugs may, or may not, be available in this particular circumstance, but that is by the by; the intention was to show how, by re-designing the action of a drug, otherwise seemingly un-avoidable side effects can be circumvented. But that is not to say that the new drug would be without other unpredicted and undesirable side-effects. Such is the complexity of multi-cellular organisms like ourselves all with unique (to ourselves) genomes. Then there is the variability between humans allured to directly above; we are not all the same! One drug may work well in one person, but poison another.
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The data sheets supplied with most drugs, if anyone cared to read them, usually list as a side effect the very symptoms that the drug is meant to treat! This is not (usually) to say that the drug can cause this disease in totally fit people who shouldn't be taking the drug in the first place, but rather as an expedient way of saying that the drug might not work for you, in which case you would have the same symptoms as you started with, and which, being un-treated, may well be getting worse...
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