Defining the Word DRUG

Defining the word DRUG

The word - drug, can be defined in many different contexts.

There is the medical context where it is defined as a chemical substance used in the treatment of, cure of, or prevention of disease.

It can also be used in the diagnosis of a disease or used to enhance someone's physical or mental well-being.

A doctor can prescribe drugs in the medical sense for a medical purpose for a short period of time, or for a period of time to extend to a person's lifetime.

The word - drug, when used in the context of it being used for recreational purposes it is defined as being a chemical substance that is used for the purpose of having an affect on the central nervous system in order to produce a desired affect.

Recreational drugs affect perception, consciousness, personality, and the behavior the individual taking them. Narcotics and hallucinogens are recreational drugs. Recreational drugs can lead to addiction.

There are some substances that we use or observe others using on a daily basis that are consumed as food or beverage that can also be defined as a drug such as the caffeine that we drink in coffee or tea, or the caffeine in sodas and hot chocolate beverages.

Alcoholic beverages contain alcohol, which is a drug. Beers, wines and even some mushrooms can have an altering affect on the individual's mind and body and those could also be classified as a drug.

Perhaps, the best selling drug right now, is tobacco, which is sold in the form of cigarettes.

Drugs And Generic Each OTC category works on a different set of symptoms. Pain relievers are either nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, called NSAIDs, or they are aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen, ketoprofen or also acetaminophen. They all relieve pain, but work in different ways. Drugs and Medicine

Many recreational drugs are prohibited by law, and are defined as being recreational drugs by governmental agencies.

There are other recreational drugs that are legal, and commonly used but are restricted by age regarding who can purchase them such as alcohol, and also tobacco.

Drugs being used for medicinal purposes can be defined by the method that they can be taken such as by mouth - referred to as being taken orally, other routes by which drugs can be taken are: inhaled, injected, given by suppository in the rectum or in the vagina, can be given through the stomach by bolus, or snorted through the nose which is called, insufflations.

Governments regulate drugs and define them into many different categories including over-the-counter (OTC) which are available in supermarkets, drugstores, and pharmacies without any governmental restrictions.

Drugs And Generic Risks can be serious, or they may be mild and cause something minor like a stomach upset. When the benefits outweigh the risk that the medication has associated with it, we will usually take the medication. Medications have risks that may not be known to us, but all medications that are approved for use by the U.S. Drugs and Medicine

Then, there are behind-the-counter (BTC) drugs, which are only dispensed by a pharmacist without the need for a doctor's prescription and may include some government restrictions such as quantity dispensed and may require ID to purchase.

Then there are those medicines and drugs which are by prescription only (POM), which can only be taken if a licensed medical professional has prescribed the drug for you to take and dispensed by pharmacies.

In the UK, behind-the-counter (BTC) medicines are called, "pharmacy medicines", and can only be sold by registered pharmacies or by supervision of a pharmacist.

Sometimes the difference in definition between an OTC and a BTC is based on legal jurisdiction.