The doctor prescribes them, the pharmacist sells them: Medicines. Medicines are drugs intended to cure a disease as well as to prevent or diagnose a disease. Medicines have long been made from plants, plant parts, animal and chemical compounds. In the meantime, pharmacologists are increasingly focusing their attention on genetic engineering and synthetic manufacturing processes. All drugs sold in pharmacies in the Federal Republic of Germany must first be approved by the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM). The following regulations apply to the more than 70,000 drugs sold:
Categories of drugs
- Over-the-counter medicines may also be sold outside pharmacies,
- Pharmacy drugs may only be dispensed in pharmacies,
- Prescription drugs are only available in pharmacies on presentation of a doctor’s prescription,
- Narcotics, on the other hand, are only available in pharmacies upon presentation of a special narcotic prescription.
- Cosmetics and dietary supplements are not medicines.
Active ingredients and excipients
A drug consists of chemical active ingredients and excipients that are neutral to the effect, which support the provision of the active ingredient in the drug. For example, the base material for suppositories is hard fat, which is an excipient that is the carrier substance for the active ingredient. Tablets may contain lactose as an excipient. A drug may contain one active ingredient or several active ingredients. Such mono- and combination preparations are known primarily as medicines for the relief of pain or flu-like infections. With products containing only one active ingredient, individual therapy in the correct dosage may be more successful because the individual course of the disease can be better taken into account.
Combination Medicines
Combination drugs, on the other hand, contain active ingredients against several symptoms. If all active ingredients are taken at the same time, one saves, among other things, time when taking the medicine, and does not run the risk of forgetting an active ingredient. Another advantage, e.g. in the case of painkillers, is the fact that the individual active ingredients complement each other in their effect, so that less of the individual active ingredient is needed. However, if several active ingredients are taken at the same time, the risk of interactions also increases. Especially chronically ill patients should therefore seek advice at the pharmacy on which drug combinations are unproblematic for them.
Dosage forms of medications
Modern medications are offered in various forms – also called “dosage forms”. According to this, a distinction is made between the “dosage form”:
- By mouth (oral): tablets, coated tablets, capsules, drops, juices, etc.
- Under the tongue (sublingual): bite capsules, lozenges.
- Through the anus (rectal): suppositories, clysms.
- Under the skin (subcutaneously (s.c. )): Crystal suspension
- Into the vein (intravenous (i.v. )): Infusion
- Into the artery (intra-arterial (i.a. )): Syringe
- Into the muscle tissue (intramuscular (i.m. )): Syringes
- To the skin (cutaneous): creams, ointments, gels, pastes.
- Through the skin (percutaneous): depot plasters, patches.
- Through the vagina (vaginal): vaginal suppositories.
- Via the conjunctiva (conjunctival): eye drops.
- Through the nose (nasal): nasal spray, nasal drops.
Risks and side effects
In addition to the desired effect, undesirable side effects may also occur after taking or administering a drug. Possible side effects must be listed in the package insert. Legislation requires comprehensive patient information at this point, so package inserts will list all potential side effects in full – regardless of how frequently they occur and how severe they are. Interactions, i.e. the mutual influence of medications when administered at the same time, are also mentioned in the package insert. The pharmacist is the patient’s competent contact in these matters and can quickly clarify questions about possible interactions. The electronic health card is intended to further reduce the risk of drug incompatibilities and undesirable interactions.
