How medicines work 3: Pharmacology

This unit builds upon PHR1031 How the body works to provide an overview of how drugs interact with their therapeutic targets to alter normal physiological processes in the body. The effects of drugs to reverse the pathophysiology associated with a number of diseases and disorders will also be described to illustrate the benefits of various medical therapies. To address these key areas, you will study the fundamentals of pharmacology with an emphasis on drug-target interactions as it relates to the mechanisms of action of medicines. You will explore through example agonists and antagonists, receptors, signal transduction, enzymes, transporters, ion channels, natural products and biological therapeutics as they relate to pharmacological interventions. These examples will be studied with a view to how they lead to beneficial (and occasionally detrimental) effects on patients.