Medication and Pharmacology Terms

A family of red-colored chemotherapy drugs, among the most effective available and among the hardest on the heart.

A type of anticancer drug.

A substance being studied in the treatment of some types of cancer.

A drug that stops male hormones being heard, either by blocking the receiver or by cutting off the supply.

A word for the brake on blood vessel growth, one the body applies by default and drugs press harder in eye disease and cancer.

A drug used to treat symptoms of anxiety, such as feelings of fear, dread, uneasiness, and muscle tightness, that may occur as a reaction to stress.

Bacteria gain resistance by mutation and by trading genes with one another, which is how a reliable drug stops working.

Describes a drug or effect that works against cachexia (loss of body weight and muscle mass).

A type of anticancer drug that blocks cell growth by interfering with DNA, the genetic material in cells.

An anticoagulant reduces the blood's tendency to clot, used to prevent or treat dangerous clots in conditions such as atrial fibrillation and deep vein thrombosis.

Anticonvulsants include several distinct drug classes, some of which are also prescribed for other conditions such as chronic pain or mood disorders.

Blood levels rise within a day yet mood shifts take weeks, a gap suggesting slower brain adaptation rather than a simple chemical top-up.

A substance used to treat diarrhea (frequent and watery bowel movements).

Antiemetics work through several different mechanisms depending on the drug class, from blocking specific brain receptors to countering inner ear signals.

A drug or other substance used to prevent or stop seizures or convulsions.

Harder to design than an antibiotic, because a fungal cell is built much like a human one and shares most of its machinery.

The word usually means an allergy tablet, though the drugs that quiet stomach acid block a histamine receptor too.

A drug that works by imitation, close enough to a natural building block to be taken up and wrong enough to jam the machinery.

A type of drug that blocks cell growth by stopping mitosis (cell division).

A type of drug that blocks cell growth by stopping mitosis (cell division).