Synopses & Reviews
We have all been drug users at one time or another. Drugs can be used as medicines, as food additives, for pleasure, and to protect our long-term health. With so many new drugs on the market and an ever-widening definition of what exactly makes a drug a drug, we should all be well informed about the drugs we use--how they work, their benefits, and their risks. This book is a unique guide for the general reader to the drugs of everyday life--from commonly prescribed medicines to recreational drugs (including illicit ones) and food supplements. The author examines how drugs interact with their targets in the body, where drugs come from, how they are developed, and what new kinds of drugs are on the horizon. She reviews all the major pharmaceutical medicines--painkillers, antibiotics, anti-cancer drugs, anti-depressants, heart drugs, tranquilizers, and hormones. Much more than a consumer handbook, this volume conveys the fascinating science behind drugs in an easily accessible way.
Review
"The book is well crafted and written in an accessible style...Highly recommended for general readers; undergraduate and graduate students; and professionals." CHOICE"This is an important book for health professional and public libraries...This is a subject area that student and practicing pharmacists should know more about, not only for their own enjoyment in learning about the history of drugs, but also to become more aware of their patients' and consumers' beliefs about substances they view as 'magic molecules.'" American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education
Synopsis
Popular science account of how drugs work - including medical, recreational and herbal drugs.
Synopsis
This book is about the science of drugs. It covers the basics of how different drugs work in the body. It also describes how a medicine is developed from its discovery to its launch as a treatment for patients. All the drugs of everyday life are described - antibiotics, painkillers, hormones, anti-cancer and heart drugs, antidepressants and sleeping pills. Recreational drugs - from caffeine to cocaine - are covered too, as are food supplements and herbal medicines. Taking an accessible approach, Susan Aldridge clearly describes the science behind how drugs work.
Table of Contents
1. How drugs work; 2. From penicillin to Prozac: introducing pharmaceutical drugs; 3. Fighting infection; 4. The hormone revolution; 5. Cardiovascular drugs: protecting the heart and brain; 6. The problem of pain; 7. The cancer challenge; 8. Drugs for the mind; 9. Drugs of recreation and addiction; 10. Natural alternative: vitamins, minerals and herbs; 11. In the pipeline: gene-based medicine; Index.