Medicines

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Boiled carrots for asthma, cocaine for hayfever, raw veal for rabies, crocodile dung as a contraceptive... the list goes on! These were the traditional medicines used by people all over the world before the age of shop-bought paracetamol and sweet-flavoured cough syrup. Modern science has come a long way since then, although traditional remedies are still used in many countries. We owe a lot to what may appear to be 'silly' practices; ancient Egyptians used the bark of a willow tree for pain relief, which today is sold over the counter as aspirin.

We'll learn about the definition of medicine, what types exist, its importance and uses, and the difference between drugs and medicine.

The Definition of Medicine

The use of medicines may seem relatively modern, especially since drugs and vaccines are still being created today (COVID-19 vaccines, for example).

However, the practice of medicine has been around for as long as 60,000 years!

Medicines are chemicals or compounds used for the treatment or prevention of disease.

Most of the useful medicines we take are mixtures, meaning that they contain a number of different substances, each chosen for a particular use. Usually, medications are made up of an active drug and another constituent used to help administer the drug. Ensuring that the correct quantities of each component are used is crucial. Otherwise, the medicine may not work effectively.

When we talk about 'medicines', it is essential to note that there are many different types with varying uses and importance. Additionally, they may all look different! As you probably know, medicines can look like tablets or capsules or be in solution form like cough syrup. How a medication is taken depends on what it contains and, therefore, what it is used for.

Let's take a quick look at the kinds of medicines we can come across.

Medicines Types and use of medicines StudySmarter Figure 1: Medicines come in many shapes and sizes. These are some of the different medicine forms you may be familiar with, pixabay.com

Types of Medicines

There are diverse types of medicines, we can classify them according to their presentation depending on how, and where in the body, they should be administered:

Medicine presentation type	Description
Liquid	The active component is dissolved in a liquid. They may also be called a ‘mixture’, ‘solution’ or ‘syrup’.
Tablet	The components are pressed into a round or oval solid shape. They can be taken with water and swallowed or, if soluble or dispersible tablets, they can be dissolved in water.
Capsules	The components are contained inside a plastic shell that is swallowed and the shell dissolves slowly in the stomach’s acids. The contents can be mixed with food. Others need to be swallowed whole, so the medicine isn’t absorbed until it reaches the stomach.
Topical medicines	Applied directly onto the skin in the form of creams, lotions or ointments. They come in tubs, bottles or tubes depending on the type of medicine.
Suppositories	The components are pressed into a ‘bullet shape’ so it can be inserted into the bottom.
Drops	They tend to be used for eye, ear or nose, when the active component works best if it reaches the affected area directly.
Inhalers	The active component is released under pressure directly into the lungs. Your pharmacist can show you how to use them.
Injections	Injections can be administered under the skin (subcutaneous-SC), into the muscle (intramuscular-IM), into a vein (intravenous-IV) or into the fluid around the spinal cord (intrathecal). Some injections can be given at home but most are given at your doctor’s surgery or in hospital.
Implants or patches	The components are absorbed through the skin, such as nicotine patches or contraceptive implants.
Buccal or sublingual tablets or liquids	These look like normal tablets or liquids, but you don’t swallow them. You held them in the cheek (buccal) or under the tongue (sublingual) so the mouth absorbs the active ingredient.

Table 1: The different types of presentation that medicines have and a description of their administration.

Medicine use can also depend on distribution, as institutions like the FDA in the US or MHRA in the UK decide the risks a medicine can have and how accessible it should be. Often this is associated with the severity of the condition the medicine will treat. This is why medication for a sore throat can be bought at a pharmacy or supermarket, but antibiotics for a chest infection must be prescribed by a doctor, usually after a physical examination.

Type of Medicine	Example
Over-the-counter (OTC)	Antihistamine
Prescription	Antibiotics
Complementary	Vitamins

Table 2: Types of medicines based on how accessible they are or how they are sold, and some examples.

The Importance of Medicines

Medicines have proved their importance since they were first developed, and just to put into context how valuable they can be, the COVID-19 vaccines saved an estimated 20 million lives in the last year¹.

The development and growing use of medicines across the world means that epidemics and pandemics such as COVID-19 and Ebola were managed in a way that we would not have been able to do without the use of vaccines.

However, it is not just for these high-profile issues that medicine is beneficial. Every day, people take medication so they can carry on with their lives as usual.

ACE inhibitors, for example, show around a 25% decrease in mortality and a 35% decrease in mortality or admission to hospital when used for the treatment of heart failure.

The use of medicine allows patients to be cured of their illnesses, and, in some cases, the diseases can be eradicated entirely.

The Uses of Medicines

Medicines have a range of uses, they can treat, halt and prevent illnesses, ease symptoms, and in some cases, aid diagnoses.

Medicines can be allocated into four broad categories; according to their main use, they can either:

Prevent disease from manifesting in the first place
Fight infectious agents which cause disease
Relieve pain or any other symptoms
Maintain or restore health and regulate bodily systems

Preventive Medicines

When we say 'preventive medicines', we are talking about a combination of medical practices designed to avoid disease and illness. This is a more proactive group of medicines used to ensure that potential illness is minimised and detected early, giving patients the best chance of recovering to their normal health.

1) Vaccines

Over the last few years, we have all become well-accustomed to vaccines due to COVID-19.

Vaccines or vaccinations are biological substances that provide active-acquired immunity to an infectious agent.

Medicines Types of medicines, vaccine StudySmarter

Fig. 2 - Healthcare professional giving vaccine to patient.

Vaccinations have been around since around 1798 and are essentially the process of allowing a dead or 'changed' form of the disease-causing pathogen to enter the body.

Pathogens are microbes that cause diseases, such as viruses, bacteria, or other microorganisms.

Antigens from these pathogens stimulate the immune response in the body so complementary antibodies can be produced. Therefore, if the person was to get infected by the same pathogen, they already have antibodies circulating in their body, so their symptoms may not even have the chance to manifest in the first place or might not be as strong.

Antigens are any substances not recognised by the immune system, inducing an immune response in the body, usually via the production of antibodies.

2) Antitoxins

Antitoxins will often be given as a small amount of fluid containing antibodies that can specifically neutralise a toxin and its effects within the body via the passive immunity pathway.

Antitoxins are substances formed in the body that act as passive immunisation agents.

Passive immunity is the type of immunity that occurs when a person is given antibodies rather than producing them naturally through their own immune system.

They can be used either to treat or prevent disease and are most often given in the cases of tetanus and diphtheria.

However, antitoxins don't provide the same long-term protection as vaccines.

Medicines that fight infectious agents

These medicines are the ones taken when the body's immune system cannot cope with infectious agents on its own. In a sense, they're the 'helping hand' to fight alongside your natural immune system.

They include antibiotics, antivirals, and antifungals, which we will now look at in more detail.

1) Antibiotics

Antibiotics are substances that can inhibit the growth of or destroy bacteria.

These substances are commonly prescribed medicines, including penicillin and amoxicillin. They work by damaging specific bacterial cells but leaving host cells intact. Different bacteria cause different diseases, so a wide range of antibiotics have been created to treat various illnesses effectively.

Penicillin was the first antibiotic discovered back in 1928 by Alexander Fleming, derived from the Penicillium mould. It is used to treat and manage a wide range of infections.

Antibiotic resistance is one of the main issues doctors and scientists face at the moment. Some bacteria have become resistant to commonly used antibiotics, reducing their effectiveness and causing doctors to limit usage to only when it is essential. This is also why a doctor will tell you that you must finish your course of antibiotics; otherwise, the next time you take them, the bacteria may have become resistant, and the medicine may not be as effective.

Learn more about this by checking out our Communicable Diseases article.

2) Antivirals

Antivirals are medications used to treat viral infections. They can be specific to one virus or be broad-spectrum and typically work by inhibiting the development of their target pathogen.

Viral diseases cannot be treated with antibiotics. As you may know, viruses replicate from within host cells. This makes it challenging to identify the pathogen and increases the risk of damage to the host cells with whatever treatment is given. Therefore, antiviral drugs focus mainly on slowing down virus development. These types of medicine require constant updates and re-evaluation, as viruses change their antigens very quickly to become resistant to antivirals.

3) Anti-fungals

In the same way as viruses, fungal infections cannot be treated with antibiotics, so a new type of drug was created to deal with these infections, antifungals. Fungal infections typically affect the skin, hair or nails.

Antifungals are medicines used to treat fungal infections by either killing or inhibiting the growth of the target fungus.

Infections that are treated with antifungals include athlete's foot and ringworm.

Medicines that relieve pain or other symptoms

These medicines vary in strength and usage greatly, with some being OTC (over-the-counter) medicines and others being prescription only. They aim to relieve the pain or reduce symptoms caused by illnesses and diseases without treating the underlying root cause.

Think about the medicine you may take when you have a cold or flu!

Analgesics are the most common form of pain-relieving medications; we will look at these in more detail.

An analgesic is any member of the group of drugs used to achieve relief from pain.

There are three main kinds of analgesics:

1) Non-opioid

Non-opioids control mild to moderate pain and can do this by blocking an enzyme responsible for inflammation and pain. These are the most common form of analgesics and include everyday easy-to-access painkillers like ibuprofen and aspirin.

2) Opioid

Opioids bind to opioid receptors in brain cells, sending signals that reduce your perception of pain while increasing your feelings of pleasure. This is what makes opioid pain relievers effective, but it can also make them dangerous and addictive. These are the most potent form of analgesics and can be either from a natural source or synthetically produced. Opioids include codeine, morphine, and fentanyl.

3) Compound

Compound analgesics contain both an opioid and a non-opioid and include medications such as co-codamol. Sometimes, a compound analgesic may be more effective than either component on its own due to the beneficial yet dangerous effects of the opioid being controlled by the non-opioid part.

Medicines that maintain or restore health

These medicines can enable people suffering from chronic illness to hay fever to function at a higher level of wellness and complete their everyday activities. Essentially, they are the medicines we take to 'keep us going'.

They can include:

Allergy medicines e.g. antihistamines
Antidepressant medicines and those for treating other mental health conditions
Cancer treatment medicines
Body-regulating medicines such as insulin for diabetics, inhalers for asthmatics, and blood pressure medication for patients suffering from high blood pressure.

The Difference Between Drugs and Medicine

So, drugs and medicines, what is the difference? The easiest way to understand the difference between these two is that:

All medicines are drugs, but not all drugs are medicines.³

Drugs are any substance taken into the body that modifies or affects chemical reactions.

Drugs can be beneficial or harmful. The table below shows you some of the most common types of drugs, their effects on the body, and the form in which they are used⁴.

As the quote above tells us, not all drugs are medicines. This is why some drugs are illegal, and others can be made illegal in cases when prescription drugs are misused and taken for recreational rather than medical purposes. This is because the effect of the drug on your body becomes detrimental rather than helpful and can be dangerous for the patient.

Drug type	Impacts on body	Example
Depressant	Decreases nerve and brain activity	Alcohol
Hallucinogen	Alters vision and hearing	MDMA
Painkiller	Stops the travel of nerve impulses to the brain	Paracetamol, ibuprofen
Performance enhancer	Increases muscle development	Steroids
Stimulant	Increases nerve and brain activity	Nicotine, caffeine

Table 3: Types of drugs, their impact on the body and some examples.

Classification of illegal drugs ranges from A to C. Class A drugs are the most dangerous and carry the harshest penalties for possession or dealing. Class C drugs are the least harmful, with the least severe penalties, but this does not mean they are safe to operate. Addiction can occur when a person becomes dependent on a drug, and addiction is more likely with higher-class drugs.

Medicines - Key takeaways

Different categories and types of medicine depend on their composition and purpose. Medicines can cure, halt, diagnose and prevent illnesses whilst also being used in everyday life.
Modern medicine has traditional roots, going back all the way to ancient Egyptian times.
Drugs and medicines are not the same, medicines are a type of drug. But, due to their similarities, it is possible for medicines to be misused and become classified as drugs.
The use of medicine allows patients to be cured of their illnesses, and, in some cases, the diseases can be eradicated entirely.
When medicines are not taken the right way, their effect on your body becomes detrimental rather than helpful and can be dangerous for the patient.

References

UK Research and Innovation, Five new COVID-19 vaccine research projects announced, 26 August 2021.
Pharma Factz, Difference between a drug and a medicine, 01 September 2020.
Emmesar Biotech & Nutrition, Drugs and Medicines - What is the difference?, 23 June 2016.
Peter Hogg, Top 10 most important drugs in history, Proclinical, 18 January 2022.
Table 1: NHS Foundation Trust, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children. Types of medicines. 2023 < https://www.gosh.nhs.uk/conditions-and-treatments/medicines-information/types-medicines/>.
Fig. 1: Image of thermometer, medicines and pills (https://pixabay.com/photos/thermometer-medications-tablets-1539191/) by stevepb, free to use under the Pixabay License (https://pixabay.com/service/terms/).
Fig. 2: Image of vaccination (https://pixabay.com/photos/vaccination-impfspritze-medicine-2722937/) by whitesession, free to use under the Pixabay License (https://pixabay.com/service/terms/).

Frequently Asked Questions about Medicines

Medicine is important in sciencie because it has meant that more lives can be saved from illness and disease all over the world, improving quality of life and life expectancy. Developments in medicine are important in science as it helps scientists learn more about the human body and how it responds to different compounds and treatments. Medicine also helps scientists understand things that affect people, like infectious diseases.

The purpose of medicine is to prevent mortality through illness and disease, by treating and diagnosing these conditions. Medicine is used to improve quality of life, extend life expectancy and promote health.

Medicine is not classed as a pure science, like chemistry or physics. This is because medicine does not question why the world is the way it is, but rather focuses on what the world can do for us and our health and wellbeing. Medicine can be defined as an applied science, which uses existing scientific information to develop practical solutions for real-world problems.

Medicines can be classified in 4 categories, depending on their uses:
1) Prevent disease

2) Fight infectious disease-causing agents

3) Relieve pain and symptoms

4) Maintain/restore health, or regulate bodily systems.

Medicines optimisation is defined as a person‑centred approach to safe and effective medicine use, to ensure people obtain the best possible outcomes from their medicines. So instead of looking at what medicine may be best for a large number of people, medicines optimisation ensures that each patient is given the medicine most suited to them.

Final Medicines Quiz

Medicines Quiz - Teste dein Wissen

Question

What is a drug?

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Answer

A substance that alters chemical processes within the body.

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Question

What is an antibiotic?

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Answer

A medicine that treats illness by killing invading bacterial pathogens.

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Question

What does a vaccine do?

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Answer

A vaccine prevents a disease/illness from developing fully within the body to limit symptoms.

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Question

What is the definition of medicines?

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Answer

Medicines are drugs used to treat or prevent diseases and other conditions.

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Question

What is classed as a prescription medicine?

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Answer

A drug/medicine only available with a written prescription from a medical professional to a pharmacist.

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Question

How does an opioid work?

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Answer

Opioids depress neural activity, temporarily decreasing pain.

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Question

What is a drug called that relieves pain?

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Answer

Analgesic

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Question

Try and name at least 5 forms a medicine can be taken in.

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Answer

Answers containing any 5 of: liquid, tablet, capsule, topical treatment, suppositories, drops, inhalers, injections, implants/patches, tablets not swallowed.

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Question

What are the 4 categories that medicines can fit into?

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Answer

Prevent disease from manifesting in the first place
Fight infectious agents which cause disease
Relieve pain or any other symptoms
Maintain or restore health and regulate bodily systems

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Question

Which type of immunity do vaccines provide?

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Answer

Active-acquired immunity

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Question

What type of immunity do antitoxins provide?

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Answer

Passive immunity

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Question

Why can't viruses be treated with antibiotics?

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Answer

Because viruses replicate from within host cells, making identification challenging and leading to a higher risk of damage to host cells if treated.

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Question

What is an antifungal?

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Answer

Antifungals are medicines used to treat fungal infections by either killing or inhibiting the growth of the target fungus.

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Question

What is an antiviral and how do they work?

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Answer

Antivirals are medications used to treat viral infections. They can be specific to one virus or be broad-spectrum and typically work by inhibiting the development of their target pathogen.

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Question

What are the three different ways of buying medicine?

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Answer

1) over the counter

2) prescription

3) shop-bought/complementary

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Question

What is an example of a hallucinogenic drug?

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Answer

MDMA

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Question

Which class of drugs is the most dangerous and WHY?

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Answer

Class A, because they are the most addictive.

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Question

What type of medicine is co-codamol?

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Answer

A compound analgesic.

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Medicines

Medicines

Medicines

The Definition of Medicine

Types of Medicines

The Importance of Medicines

The Uses of Medicines

Preventive Medicines

1) Vaccines

2) Antitoxins

Medicines that fight infectious agents

1) Antibiotics

2) Antivirals

3) Anti-fungals

Medicines that relieve pain or other symptoms

1) Non-opioid

2) Opioid

3) Compound

Medicines that maintain or restore health

The Difference Between Drugs and Medicine

Medicines - Key takeaways

References

Frequently Asked Questions about Medicines

Why is medicine important in science?

What is the purpose of medicine?

Is medicine an example of pure science?

What are the 4 categories of medicines?

What is medicines optimisation?

Final Medicines Quiz

Medicines Quiz - Teste dein Wissen

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