Knowra Drug class Drug class A drug class is a group of medications defined by a shared feature, such as therapeutic use, chemical structure, or mechanism of action. Classifications can overlap because one medication may share several features.
Mechanism of action : The specific biochemical process through which a drug produces its effects. Classes defined by shared mechanisms group drugs that act on the same biological target or process.
Pharmacotherapy : The use of medicines to prevent, manage, or treat disease. Therapeutic classes help organize medicines by the conditions they treat.
Therapeutic classification : The grouping of medicines according to the diseases or symptoms they treat. It is one basis for defining a drug class, distinct from structure or mechanism.
Therapeutic equivalence : A determination that two drug products can be expected to have the same clinical effect and safety under specified conditions. Belonging to the same class alone does not establish that two drugs are therapeutically equivalent.
Pharmacodynamics : The study of how drugs affect organisms, including their effects and mechanisms. Mechanism-based classes describe shared pharmacodynamic effects.
Antibiotic : A substance that kills bacteria or inhibits their growth. Antibiotics form a therapeutic class, while also dividing into narrower mechanism-based classes.
Chemical classification : The grouping of substances according to shared molecular structure or chemical properties. It can unite drugs that have different therapeutic uses.
Drug interaction : A change in a drug’s effects caused by another drug, food, or substance. Class-wide interactions can follow shared mechanisms, but individual members may differ.
Pharmacokinetics : The study of how an organism absorbs, distributes, metabolizes, and eliminates a drug. Some drug classes are distinguished by shared patterns of absorption or metabolism.
Antihypertensive : A medication used to lower elevated blood pressure. This class groups drugs with different mechanisms by their shared clinical purpose.
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