INTRODUCTION TO PHARMACOLOGY
Pharmacology is the science of drugs. It contributes
to the development of drugs, the understanding of their mechanisms of action
and the description of their conditions of use. It also deals with the
assessment of their efficiency (through clinical trials) and their safety
(through pharmacovigilance). Administration, legislation and complex control
systems characterise this field which is at the crossroads between research
and development (in the Pharmaceutical industry) and so-called basic research.
Pharmacology is an indispensable prerequisite
for the learning of therapeutics. Continuous flexibility is needed to move
from collective data (pharmacology of populations, clinical pharmacology
to the individual conduct required in a precise case. It is also necessary
during the pharmacokinetic monitoring of a specific case. The application
of pharmacoepidemiology data to an individual patient is linked to the
interpretation of statistical data.
Because Pharmacology is continuously evolving,
it is an excellent training ground for research, especially in the clinical
fields. It concerns all practitioners of medicine, whatever their field
may be. Moreover, it calls for the use of techniques from many other specialities,
such as biochemistry, epidemiology, statistics and others.
Pharmacology possesses its own vocabulary, institutions,
laws and regulations, not to mention the basic rules regarding drug usage
and the prescription of medicines, which must first be learnt. A good knowledge
of the placebo and nocebo effects is necessary before continuing the study
of active molecules. Some general remarks (which will have to be read again
during the study of drugs in specialised medical fields) will describe
the official methods required to define the pharmacokinetic profile of
products, to carry out (or to participate in) clinical trials and to analyse
the results of pharmacovigilance and pharmacoepidemiology (meta-analyses).
These points are relevant from the beginning of clinical training at the
hospital and also afterwards in medical practice. They can be summarised
in the following equation :
Pharmacology = a guide for therapeutics = a
method to optimise therapeutics.
Pharmacology is a fabulous tool for research,
since drugs are, thanks to their specific mechanisms of action, real probes
which can help decipher the innermost mechanisms of physiology. This is
perfectly illustrated by neuropsychopharmacology, which is the basis of
understanding behaviour and, why not, even ideas ! At a fundamental level,
it also helps to create models.
Pharmacology has good prospects,
since drugs of the future will be the result of biotechnology (gene therapy)
or the final result of improvements in galenics. Pharmacology does have
a cost, but if well controlled it may contribute to savings in Public Health
(pharmacoeconomics). It is also a source of bioethics, as well as making
us question the new technologies available for the broadcasting and dissemination
of new information (for example, the Internet, which has a site on Alzheimer's
Disease in Europe at the following address : http://www.each.be).
Finally, Pharmacology contributes to the evidence-based
approach to medicine.