| Term | Plain English Definition | |------|--------------------------| | | The official chemical name (e.g., ibuprofen). | | Brand Name | The company’s marketing name (e.g., Advil). | | Half-life | Time it takes for the body to remove half of the drug. | | Bioavailability | Percentage of drug that actually enters the bloodstream. | | Therapeutic Index | Safety margin – narrow index = dangerous (e.g., Warfarin). | | Potency | How much drug is needed for an effect. | | Efficacy | The maximum effect the drug can produce. |
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If you’ve just typed into a search engine, you are likely one of three people: a nursing student staring down the barrel of a daunting drug calculation exam, a medical student overwhelmed by receptor sites and adverse effects, or a curious layperson trying to understand what your prescription actually does to your body. | | Bioavailability | Percentage of drug that
xcretion: How the body gets rid of it (usually through the kidneys). | | Efficacy | The maximum effect the drug can produce