Pharmacology: Bioavailability

Introduction

Drug Properties

Physiology

Medicine Properties

Bioavailability

Activity

Assessment

Resources

Factor 3: Properties of the medicine

It is important to distinguish between a drug (that is the active chemical substance), and a medicine which is a particular preparation containing the drug. No doubt you will at some point have had to explain to a patient that the two medicines may actually contain the same drug in the same dose.

You may therefore be suprised to learn that not all medicines make available for absorption the same amount of the drug. Factors such as tablet size; disintegration rate and interactions with inactive ingredients can exert an effect on the availability of the drug.