NRSG139 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Suppository, Pseudoephedrine, Registered Nurse
Introduction to medicines
● A medicine may be defined as a chemical or naturally occurring substance that alters
the structure or function of a living being
● Pharmacology is the study of pharmaceuticals, that is of medicines and the effect of
these on living beings
Clarification of terminology
● Medications/Drugs
● Drug
● Medicine
Pharmacology/bush medicine throughout Indigenous history
Long history of using natural remedies sourced from the environment. Many plant sources
were used for their anti inflammatory or antibacterial properties
Examples
● Tea Tree Oil - crushed bark and leaves to make a paste for wounds
● Kakadu Plum - 50x the vitamin C than oranges
● Desert Mushrooms - sucked on to relieve sore mouth/lips/teething discomfort and
oral thrush
● Emu Bush - crushed leaves for antibacterial properties
Pharmacology throughout non-Indigenous history
● Therapeutic agents were derived from plants from as far back as 2700BC
● Natural sources dominated until the 20th century. Variable efficacy and safety but
● In the 1900s synthetic agents were developed in pharmaceutic laboratories on a
large and profitable scale. First breakthrough was the therapeutic availability of
penicillin in the 1940s
Examples
● Alcohol - fermented beverages by the 6th century alcohol began to be used as skin
antiseptic
● Herbs - were used to promote blood supply to the skin and produces reddened skin,
said to mimic inflammatory responses
● Morphine - is derived from the opium poppy, was first identified and used in the 1st
century in Assyria, Greece and Mesopotamia followed by China in the 6th century
Pharmacology throughout history
● Atropine - is derived from plants of the potato family, particularly deadly night shade
(Atropa Belladonna), a shrub with red or purple flowers and black berries (poisonous)
● Ergometrine - was derived from fungus Claviceps purpurea which grew on rye cereal
crops leading to contamination of the crop
● Antibiotics - more than 2000 years ago mouldy bread poultices were used in China,
Greece, Serbia and Egypt to treat infected wounds. Ancient Egyptians also used
honey as part of wound coverings. They believed the remedies influenced the spirits
of gods responsible for illness and suffering
● We know...honey - contains hydrogen peroxide which kills bacteria and Mould is a
fungi that produces secretions to protect itself from microbes. These secretions are
known as antibiotics
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Document Summary
A medicine may be defined as a chemical or naturally occurring substance that alters the structure or function of a living being. Pharmacology is the study of pharmaceuticals, that is of medicines and the effect of these on living beings. Long history of using natural remedies sourced from the environment. Many plant sources were used for their anti inflammatory or antibacterial properties. Tea tree oil - crushed bark and leaves to make a paste for wounds. Kakadu plum - 50x the vitamin c than oranges. Desert mushrooms - sucked on to relieve sore mouth/lips/teething discomfort and oral thrush. Emu bush - crushed leaves for antibacterial properties. Therapeutic agents were derived from plants from as far back as 2700bc. Natural sources dominated until the 20th century. In the 1900s synthetic agents were developed in pharmaceutic laboratories on a large and profitable scale. First breakthrough was the therapeutic availability of penicillin in the 1940s.
