Goal of the course is to acquire the knowledge useful to understand the clinical use of drugs. Students will use this information in their professional life both when working in a Pharmacy (hospital or open to the public) or in a R&D or medical division of a drug industry.By the end of the course the students should be able not only to recognize and describe most of the more commonly used classes of drugs but also to understand and comment the complex therapy set up for a polypathological patient.
Course Prerequisites
The course is part of the mandatory formation of the students in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology and together with the courses in Basic Pharmacology, Pharmacognosy, Toxicology end Experimental Pharmacology provides the basic knowledge to develop and properly use drugs
Teaching Methods
The course is based on lectures provided by the instructor and, as needed, on few seminars held by experts invited by the instructor. Also interactive techniques such as group tests in the classroom using Moodle or Wooclap will be applied to provide a tune up of the learning abilities of the students. Class attendance and participation policy:attendance is not compulsory but to take the exam at the end of the course students must have participated at least to two tests in the classroom.
Assessment Methods
Grades will be based on one written test but to take the exam at the end of the course students must have participated at least to two tests in the classroom. Otherwise, students can take the exam during the regular exam sessions fixed on the beginning of the academic year (october). Note that the grade of Pharmacological basis of therapy should be registered together with that one of Toxicology as a unitary course on “Pharmacology and toxicology”. The final grade will be equal to the mathematical mean of the two.
Texts
Goodman and Gilman's Manual of Pharmacology and Therapeutics , any recent edition or any other international reference textbook of pharmacology as agreed directly with the teacher. The slides of the lecture will be available for download on the Kiro (Moodle) platform.
Contents
By the end of this course students will learn: to understand the complex biological interactions of drugs with living organisms; to appreciate the clinical use of drugs, also taking in consideration how approved drugs or new molecular entities may respond to unmet clinical needs; to understand how drugs may impact on patient's illness taking also in consideration psychosocial determinants of drug response. Basic principles of neurotransmission -Autonomic nervous system. Pharmacotherapy of cardiovascular diseases and of diabetes. Antihypertensive drugs I -Antihypertensive drugs II - Drugs used for heart failure - Antiarrhythmic drugs - Drugs used in the treatment of hyperlipoproteinemias - Drugs that affect blood coagulation. Drugs used to treat the diabetes. Introduction to pain mechanisms. Antinflammatory drugs - focus on NSAIDs - COX-I and COX-II inhibitors. Glucocorticoids. Drugs affecting the respiratory tract -Drug treatment of asthma and BPCO Drugs affecting the gastrointestinal tract -Agents for the control of gastric acidity and gastroesophageal reflux – Antiemetic and Antidiarrheal drugs. Drugs affecting the Central Nervous System. - Antidepressant agents – Antipsychotics - Drugs used in Parkinson’s disease Endocrine pharmacology: contraceptives, emergency contraception, medical abortion. Basic concepts on anticancer drug mechanisms.
Course Language
Italian
More information
The teacher is available in her office for explanations and revisions of assignments by appointment by email.