PSYC62H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Sehar, Pharmacodynamics, Pharmacokinetics
Document Summary
A dose is the ratio of the amount of a drug or substance relative to body weight. We can understand the relationship between a human and an animal taking a drug based on their body weight. We can also prescribe better if we know about dosages. If you compare two people of the same gender who are 80 pounds different in weight, or 50 kg different in weight, when you consume anything, it distributes itself in a ubiquitous fashion. If someone has a smaller body the drug will distribute itself in a higher concentration than it would in a larger person. If you look at medications like advil or tylenol and they say take 1 or 2 tablets, you do not take 2 because your headache is that much more severe, the effectiveness of the drug does not change. It is in fact the size of the body - average size of the body.
