A chemical which alters the body. Often extracted from plants (eg aspirin) and microorganisms (eg penicillin).
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Toxicity
If it is toxic.
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Efficacy
How well it works.
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Dose
How much of a drug you need to take to make it work.
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Placebo
A pill without the drug in it. Taken to check drug effectiveness.
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Double blind trials
Neither the patient nor the doctor know whether the patient is in the control group or not – prevents bias.
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Stages of Drug Development:
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Stage 1
Drug discovery. New possible medicines are identified. 4.5
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Stage 2
Preclinical trials. New drugs are tested in lab for toxicity and efficacy on cells, tissues and sometimes animals. 1.5
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Stage 3
Clinical trials. Low doses tested on human volunteers first and then patients suffering with the disease over 3 phases. These are double blind trials. 5.5
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Stage 4
Publishing results. Findings are checked by other scientists (peer review). Drug is approved by NHS (UK). 1.5
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