Drug, antimicrobial

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Drug, antimicrobial

Drug, antimicrobial

A drug used to treat a microbial infection. The term "antimicrobial" is a general one that refers to a group of drugs that includes antibiotics, antifungals, antiprotozoals, and antivirals.

RELATED TERMS
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Infection
Anything that invades the body and reproduces. Infections can be bacteria, protozoa, fungi, or viruses. Bacteria and fungi are one celled creatures that cause many infections including strep throat, bladder infections, and some lung infections. Fungi cause “athlete’s foot” and thrush, an infection in the mouth. Protozoa are small organisms with many cells that can cause infections in the guts or in the lungs. Most healthy people do not get protozoal infections, but people with suppressed immune systems can. Viruses are not really organisms; they are tiny particles that can live only inside another cell. They reproduce by taking over a cell and causing that cell to make more virus particles, rather than doing what the cell is supposed to do. Viruses cause most colds and flu cases.

SIMILAR TERMS
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Drug activity
A measure of the physiological response a drug produces. A less active drug produces less response (and visa versa).

Drug caution codes
Abbreviations on medications that indicate caution.

Drug delivery
The method and route used to provide medication.

Drug Rehab Central
Drug Rehab Central is a hospital in Los Angles, California (USA).

Drug rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation is an umbrella term for a variety of processes by which a person addicted to a drug stops using that drug. These processes can vary from cold turkey to the use of substitute drugs which do not have the same action upon the state of consciousness as the original drug to which the person was addicted.

Drug resistance
The ability of bacteria and other microorganisms to withstand a drug to which they were once sensitive and were once slowed in growth or killed outright.

Drug treatment
A treatment with one or more drugs to fight a given condition or disease. Also, a treatment against drug addiction.

Drug treatment center
A specific center, clinic or institution where drug addiction patients are treated against their addiction.

Drug, ACE-inhibitor
A drug that inhibits ACE (angiotensin converting enzyme) which is important to the formation of angiotensin II. Angiotensin II causes arteries in the body to constrict and thereby raises the blood pressure. ACE inhibitors lower the blood pressure by inhibiting the formation of angiotensin II. This relaxes the arteries. Relaxing the arteries not only lowers blood pressure, but also improves the pumping efficiency of a failing heart and improves cardiac output in patients with heart failure. ACE inhibitors are therefore used for blood pressure control and congestive heart failure.

Drug, anti-infective
Something capable of acting against infection, by inhibiting the spread of an infectious agent or by killing the infectious agent outright. Anti-infective is a general term that encompasses antibacterials, antibiotics, antifungals, antiprotozoans and antivirals.

Drug, antibiotic
A drug used to treat bacterial infections.T he original definition of an antibiotic was a substance produced by one microorganism that selectively inhibits the growth of another microorganism. However, wholly synthetic antibiotics (usually chemically related to natural antibiotics) have since been produced that accomplish comparable tasks.

Drug, antifungal
A drug used to treat fungal infections. Examples of antifungal drugs include miconazole and clotrimazole.

Drug, antihypertensive
As the name clearly implies, a drug aimed at reducing high blood pressure (hypertension).

Drug, antiprotozoal
Something that destroys protozoa or inhibits their growth and ability to reproduce. A few of the protozoa of medical importance include Plasmodium (the cause of malaria); Entamoeba histolytica (the cause of amebiasis, amebic dysentery) and Trichomonas vaginalis (a cause of vaginal infection); and Pneumocystis carinii (a common cause of pneumonia [PCP] in immunodeficient persons). Some antiprotozoal drugs include the antimalarials Aralen (chloroquine), Daraprim (pyrimethamine), Lariam (mefloquine) and Plaquenil (hydroxychloroquine); Flagyl (metronidazole) which is active against Entamoeba histolytica and Trichomonas vaginalis; and Mepron (atovaquone) for Pneumocystis carinii.

Drug, antithyroid
A drug directed against the thyroid gland. The antithyroid drugs include carbimazole, methimazole, and propylthiouracil (PTU). These drugs are used to treat hyperthyroidism (overactivity of the thyroid gland) in order to reduce the excessive thyroid activity before surgery and to treat and maintain patients not having surgery. Carbimazole, its active metabolite methimazole, and propylthiouracil all act by inhibiting the enzyme thyroid peroxidase and in that way they block the synthesis (the production) of thyroid hormone. About 30 to 40% of patients treated with an antithyroid drug remain euthyroid (with normal levels of thyroid hormone) 10 years after the discontinuation of antithyroid drug therapy, which means that the Graves disease (the most common cause of hyperthyroidism) is in remission. A common problem with antithyroid drugs is undershooting or overshooting causing persistent hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism. A rare complication of antithyroid therapy is agranulocytosis (decrease in white blood cells) which calls for immediate discontinuation of the drug.

Drug, antiviral
An agent that kills viruses or suppresses their replication and, hence, inhibits their capability to multiply and reproduce.

Drug, over-the-counter (OTC)
A drug for which a prescription is not needed.

Drug, prescription
A drug requiring a prescription, as opposed to an over-the-counter drug, which can be purchased without one.

Drug, sulfa
One of the sulfonamides, the sulfa-related antibiotics which are used to treat bacterial and some fungal infections.

Drug, tocolytic
A medication that can inhibit labor, slow down or halt the contractions of the uterus. Tocolytic agents are widely used today to treat premature labor and permit pregnancy to proceed and so permit the fetus to gain in size and maturity before being born.

Drugs during pregnancy, dangerous
A teratogen is an agent that can disturb the development of the embryo or fetus. Teratogens halt the pregnancy or produce a congenital malformation (a birth defect). Classes of teratogens include radiation, maternal infections, chemicals, and drugs.

Drugs, anti-angiogenesis
These drugs, which include angiostatin and Endostatin, halt the process of developing new blood vessels (angiogenesis). Angiostatin is a piece of a larger and very common protein, plasminogen, that the body uses in blood clotting. Endostatin is a piece of a different protein, collagen 18, that is in all blood vessels. Both angiostatin and Endostatin are normally secreted by tumors. It is hoped that they will provide the basis for a new class of agents to treat cancer.

Drugs, statin
A class of drugs that lower cholesterol.

Drugs, teratogenic
A teratogen is an agent that can disturb the development of the embryo or fetus. Teratogens halt the pregnancy or produce a congenital malformation (a birth defect). Classes of teratogens include radiation, maternal infections, chemicals, and drugs.

PREVIOUS AND NEXT TERMS
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Drug, ACE-inhibitor
A drug that inhibits ACE (angiotensin converting enzyme) which is important to the formation of angiotensin II. Angiotensin II causes arteries in the body to constrict and thereby raises the blood pressure. ACE inhibitors lower the blood pressure by inhibiting the formation of angiotensin II. This relaxes the arteries. Relaxing the arteries not only lowers blood pressure, but also improves the pumping efficiency of a failing heart and improves cardiac output in patients with heart failure. ACE inhibitors are therefore used for blood pressure control and congestive heart failure.

Drug, anti-infective
Something capable of acting against infection, by inhibiting the spread of an infectious agent or by killing the infectious agent outright. Anti-infective is a general term that encompasses antibacterials, antibiotics, antifungals, antiprotozoans and antivirals.

Drug, antibiotic
A drug used to treat bacterial infections.T he original definition of an antibiotic was a substance produced by one microorganism that selectively inhibits the growth of another microorganism. However, wholly synthetic antibiotics (usually chemically related to natural antibiotics) have since been produced that accomplish comparable tasks.

Drug, antifungal
A drug used to treat fungal infections. Examples of antifungal drugs include miconazole and clotrimazole.

Drug, antihypertensive
As the name clearly implies, a drug aimed at reducing high blood pressure (hypertension).

Drug, antimicrobial

Drug, antiprotozoal
Something that destroys protozoa or inhibits their growth and ability to reproduce. A few of the protozoa of medical importance include Plasmodium (the cause of malaria); Entamoeba histolytica (the cause of amebiasis, amebic dysentery) and Trichomonas vaginalis (a cause of vaginal infection); and Pneumocystis carinii (a common cause of pneumonia [PCP] in immunodeficient persons). Some antiprotozoal drugs include the antimalarials Aralen (chloroquine), Daraprim (pyrimethamine), Lariam (mefloquine) and Plaquenil (hydroxychloroquine); Flagyl (metronidazole) which is active against Entamoeba histolytica and Trichomonas vaginalis; and Mepron (atovaquone) for Pneumocystis carinii.

Drug, antithyroid
A drug directed against the thyroid gland. The antithyroid drugs include carbimazole, methimazole, and propylthiouracil (PTU). These drugs are used to treat hyperthyroidism (overactivity of the thyroid gland) in order to reduce the excessive thyroid activity before surgery and to treat and maintain patients not having surgery. Carbimazole, its active metabolite methimazole, and propylthiouracil all act by inhibiting the enzyme thyroid peroxidase and in that way they block the synthesis (the production) of thyroid hormone. About 30 to 40% of patients treated with an antithyroid drug remain euthyroid (with normal levels of thyroid hormone) 10 years after the discontinuation of antithyroid drug therapy, which means that the Graves disease (the most common cause of hyperthyroidism) is in remission. A common problem with antithyroid drugs is undershooting or overshooting causing persistent hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism. A rare complication of antithyroid therapy is agranulocytosis (decrease in white blood cells) which calls for immediate discontinuation of the drug.

Drug, antiviral
An agent that kills viruses or suppresses their replication and, hence, inhibits their capability to multiply and reproduce.

Drug, over-the-counter (OTC)
A drug for which a prescription is not needed.

Drug, prescription
A drug requiring a prescription, as opposed to an over-the-counter drug, which can be purchased without one.

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