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A pharmaceutical drug, also called a medication or medicine, is a chemical substance used to treat, cure, prevent, or diagnose a disease or to promote well-being. [3] Traditionally drugs were obtained through extraction from medicinal plants, but more recently also by organic synthesis. [4] Pharmaceutical drugs may be used for a limited ...
Definition. Medication is a medicine or a chemical compound used to treat or cure illness. According to Encyclopædia Britannica, medication is "a substance used in treating a disease or relieving pain ". [ 3 ] As defined by the National Cancer Institute, dosage forms of medication can include tablets, capsules, liquids, creams, and patches.
In the United States, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act defined the word "drug" as an "article intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease in man or other animals" and those " (other than food) intended to affect the structure or any function of the body of man or other animals." [2]
Many drugs have more than one name and, therefore, the same drug may be listed more than once. Brand names and generic names are differentiated by capitalizing brand names. See also the list of the top 100 bestselling branded drugs , ranked by sales.
A drug class is a group of medications and other compounds that have similar chemical structures, the same mechanism of action (i.e. binding to the same biological target), similar modes of action, and/or are used to treat the similar diseases. [1][2] The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has worked on classifying and licensing new medications ...
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods that are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder. Differing definitions of drug abuse are used in public health, medical, and criminal justice contexts. In some cases, criminal or anti-social behavior occurs when the ...
Prescription drug. A prescription drug (also prescription medication, prescription medicine or prescription-only medication) is a pharmaceutical drug that is permitted to be dispensed only to those with a medical prescription. In contrast, over-the-counter drugs can be obtained without a prescription.
Diabetes medication. Drugs used in diabetes treat diabetes mellitus by decreasing glucose levels in the blood. With the exception of insulin, most GLP-1 receptor agonists (liraglutide, exenatide, and others), and pramlintide, all diabetes medications are administered orally and are thus called oral hypoglycemic agents or oral antihyperglycemic ...