Posted by 2sense on April 15, 2002, at 14:32:48
In reply to Re: Adam, I have no idea what you did! what is ''e''? » Janelle, posted by Adam on April 15, 2002, at 11:07:23
I shouldn't but I am going to.... here is the definition of “half-life” (not nearly as entertaining or intellectually informative and, no I am not being glib or sarcastic or belittling previous posts regarding this good question) that comes from the Nurse's PDR in chapter one under ACTION/KINETICS: The action portion describes the mechanism(s) by which a drug achieves its therapeutic effect; not all mechanisms of action are known. The kinetics portion provides information about the rate of drug absorption, distribution, minimum effective serum or plasma level, biologic half-life, duration of action, metabolism and excretion.
The time it takes for HALF THE DRUG TO BE EXCRETED OR REMOVED FROM THE BLOOD, t1/2, (i.e., the drug’s half-life) is important in determining how often a drug is to be administered and how long to assess for side effects. Therapeutic serum or plasma levels indicate the desired concentration for the drug to exert its beneficial effect and is helpful in predicting the possible onset of side effects, as well as achievement of the desired drug effects.
Just my 2sense ... back to the taxes ...
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