ACE inhibitors decrease blood pressure, decrease pulmonary vascular and peripheral resistance, and decrease heart size. ACE inhibitors may be used in conjunction with diuretics and digitalis to treat congestive heart failure.

A drug used to treat fungal infections.

Yeasts, which are closely related to fungi, grow easily in the warm, dark environment of the mouth, particularly in immunocompromised patients. Candida albicans infections are alternatively known as oral candidiasis, monilia, or thrush. Antifungal drugs are applied topically as a solution (the patient is told to "swish and swallow") or supplied as a troche (to suck on as a lozenge). Nizoral is also available as an oral tablet that acts systemically.

A drug used to decrease the symptoms of inflammation caused by histamine released during an allergic reaction.

Antihistamines exert their therapeutic effect by blocking histamine (H1) receptors in the nose and throat. Histamine is released by the antibody-antigen complex that occurs during allergic reactions. Histamine causes vasodilation which causes blood vessels and tissues to become engorged, swollen, and red. Histamine also irritates these tissues directly, causing pain and itching. Antihistamines block the action of histamine at the H1 receptors. Antihistamines dry up secretions, shrink edematous mucous membranes, and decrease itching and redness. A significant side effect of early antihistamines was drowsiness; however, newer antihistamines have a different chemical structure that does not cross the blood-brain barrier to produce drowsiness.

Antihistamines are only effective in treating allergic reactions which release histamine. They are not effective in treating the common cold. Although symptoms of allergies and colds are similar, there is no release of histamine with the common cold. Nevertheless, pharmaceutical manufacturers continue to combine antihistamines with decongestants in cold remedies, perhaps because antihistamines have some effect in drying secretions. Antihypertensive

A drug that lowers high blood pressure.

A drug used to decrease the symptoms of inflammation by inhibiting the release of prostaglandins. This term is always hyphenated. Antimetabolite Chemotherapy Drugs

As a group, antimetabolites compete with substances that are necessary for cell metabolism and DAN synthesis. Acting as antagonists, antimetabolites take the place of necessary chemicals within a cell while also blocking the necessary substance from entering the cell. Cell metabolism is disrupted and the cell dies.

A drug that suppresses coughing.

Antitussives act to decrease coughing by suppressing the cough center in the brain or anesthetizing the stretch receptors in the respiratory tract. There main purpose is to stop nonproductive dry coughs. They are not prescribed for a productive cough that generates sputum because it is important for the patient to cough up this sputum. Some antitussives are narcotics, such as codeine and hydrocodone; these are prescription schedule drugs. Over-the-counter antitussives contain the nonnarcotic dextromethorphan or diphenhydramine.

Although nitrates, particularly nitroglycerin, comprise the standard for antianginal therapy, beta blockers may also be prescribed. Beta blockers act to decrease the heart rate which in turn decrease the need of the myocardium for oxygen; this decreases anginal pain.

For patients who have had a myocardial infarction, the beta blockers propranolol (Inderal) and timolol (Blocadren) are prescribed to reduce the risk of a second heart attack.

Not all beta blockers are indicated for treating angina; beta blockers are also used to treat hypertension and arrhythmias.

Bronchodilators are used to treat asthma, COPD, emphysema, and exercise-induced bronchospasm. Bronchodilators relax the smooth muscle that surrounds the bronchi, thereby increasing air flow. This dilatation of the bronchi is due either to stimulation of beta2 receptors in the smooth muscle of the bronchi, to the release of epinephrine which itself stimulates beta2 receptors, or to inhibition of acetylcholine at cholinergic receptor sites in the smooth muscle.

Some bronchodilators are given orally; some are given intravenously; some are prescribed as a solution or a powder in a dispenser (inhaler) which a special mouthpiece. The dispenser automatically injects a premeasured dose into the lungs as the patient inhales through the mouth. The prescribed dosage for these metered-dose inhalers is in number of puffs.

Natural corticosteroids, produced in the adrenal cortex, have a powerful anti-inflammatory action. Corticosteroid drugs used to treat the inflammation associated with arthritis, bursitis, and tendonitis are given orally. Some corticosteroids can be injected directly into the joint (intra- articular administration). Because of the side effects associated with prolonged oral use, corticosteroids are only used to treat acute exacerbations.

Corticosteroids (hydrocortisone and cortisone) are produced naturally by the adrenal glands. They suppress the inflammatory response of the immune system. Manufactured corticosteroids reduce inflammation and tissue edema associated with chronic lung disease. They do not produce bronchodilation; therefore, they are always used in conjunction with bronchodilators. They are administered prophylactically, because they are not effective during the acute attacks of bronchospasm. These drugs are given by inhaler, and the dosage is prescribed in numbers of puffs.

A drug used to treat edema and hypertension by causing the kidneys to excrete more sodium and water.

The kidneys filter circulating blood, extracting waste products, water, sodium, potassium, and various other substances. They also regulate the blood volume by retaining or excreting sodium ions which in turn cause water to be retain or excreted. Diuretics keep excreted sodium from being reabsorbed from the tubule back into the bloodstream. As the sodium is excreted in the urine, it brings water from the tubule with it because of osmotic pressure. By causing extra sodium and water to be excreted from the circulating blood volume, diuretics are useful in the treatment of hypertension.

Diuretics are divided into several groups on the basis of the site of their actions within in the kidney: thiazide diuretics, loop diuretics, and potassium-sparing diuretics.

A drug that thins mucus in the respiratory tract to make it easier to cough up.

Expectorants act to reduce the viscosity or thickness of sputum so that patients can more easily cough it up. Expectorants are prescribed only for productive coughs.

Certain tumors, specifically those arising from the tissue influenced by the hormones estrogen and progesterone/androgen, show regression when treated with a drug that produces the opposite hormonal effect/environment. For example, estrogen given to a patient with testicular cancer changes the favorable hormonal environment provided by endogenous androgens (male hormones) and causes the tumor cells to die.

Hormonal drugs used to treat breast, ovarian, or endometrial cancer include androgens/progestin and estrogen-blocking drugs.

Insulin is secreted by beta cells in the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas. This hormone plays as essential role in sugar metabolism. Local Anesthetic Drugs

Local anesthetics provide brief periods of anesthesia in small, localized areas of the skin and adjacent tissues following administration by subcutaneous injection. Local anesthetics are used in dental procedures and for minor surgical procedures/biopsies.

Laxatives are used for short-term treatment of constipation, with attention also given to adequate water intake, dietary fiber/bulk, and other measures to promote regularity. Over- the- counter laxatives are frequently overused and even abused.

There are several classifications of laxatives. These include magnesium laxatives, irritants, bulk-producing laxatives, stool softeners, mechanical laxatives, and others.

The term narcotic is derived from the Greek work narke which means numbness. Narcotic drugs relieve pain by binding with opiate receptor sites in the brain to block pain impulses to the brain from ascending neural pathways. Natural opiate-like substances in the body (such as endorphins) normally occupy these receptors and produce a natural type of pain relief. There are several different types of opiate receptors; this accounts for the stronger addicting quality of some narcotic drugs compared with others and their different classifications as schedule drugs. The existence of different opiate receptors also accounts for the different kinds of side effects seen with various narcotic drugs.

Common side effects of narcotics include constipation, respiratory depression, sedation, and euphoria. It is the presence of significant euphoria that causes some narcotic drugs to be more psychologically addicting than others. One common narcotic side effect, suppression of the cough center (antitussive effect), is used as a therapeutic effect by including certain narcotic drugs in cough syrups (example: Hycodan).

Narcotic drugs may be directly derived from opium or may be synthetically manufactured.

Narcotic drugs are used to treat moderate to severe pain; provide preoperative and postoperative pain relief, sedation, and a feeling of well-being (euphoria); and maintain general anesthesia. Narcotic drugs are given by mouth or by injection. Nerve Block Anesthetic Drugs

Several anesthetic agents are given via subcutaneous injection directly near a particular nerve plexus (group of nerves) and its branches. This directly blocks all impulses and is known as regional anesthesia or nerve block anesthesia. For example, the brachial plexus can be injected to provide anesthesia of the upper extremity for surgery in that region

As a group, nitrates act as vasodilators throughout the vascular system. By dilating veins, they reduce preload and decrease the need of the myocardium for oxygen. By dilating arteries, they decrease systemic vascular resistance and arterial blood pressure. They also increase the flow of oxygenated blood though the coronary arteries.

The most frequently prescribed nitrate is nitroglycerin. All of the nitrates, including nitroglycerin, can be administered in several different ways. However not every nitrate can be administered by every route.

Spinal anesthesia involves the injection of an anesthetic agent into the subarachnoid space between the vertebrae of the lumbar region.

Epidural anesthesia involves the injection of an anesthetic agent into the epidural space; the drug then moves into the subarachnoid space to produce anesthesia.

This group of antibiotics inhibits bacteria. Tetracyclines do so by inhibiting the protein synthesis in the cell wall of bacteria. Tetracyclines are effective against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria.

Tetracyclines can cause permanent discoloration of the teeth; therefore, they are not prescribed for pregnant women (to protect the fetus's developing teeth) or for children under age 8.

A drug that relaxes the smooth muscle of blood vessels to improve blood flow.

Vasodilator drugs block the movement of calcium into the smooth muscle around the blood vessels. The less calcium in the smooth muscle cell, the less strongly it contracts. By relaxing smooth muscle, the blood vessel dilates and the blood pressure decreases.

Although calcium channel blockers act in a similar way to vasodilators, they remain two separate classifications of antihypertensives that are not structurally related to each other.

A drug that constricts the smooth muscle of blood vessels to increased blood pressure.

This class of drugs is used to increase blood pressure, and treatment with these drugs is begun after the patient has been resuscitated. They are given by I.V. drip. All of these drugs stimulate Beta1 receptors to increase the heart rate; they also stimulate alpha receptors in the blood vessels to produce vasoconstriction and raise the blood pressure.

Vasopressors also have the desirable effect of maintaining blood flow to the kidneys so that kidney ischemia from hypotension does not later result in renal failure, which would complicate an otherwise successful resuscitative effort.