Rang & Dales pharmacology, 9th Edition
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loginIn this edition, as in its predecessors, we set out to explain what drugs do in terms of the mechanisms by which they act. This entails analysis not only at the cellular and molecular level, where knowledge and techniques are advancing rapidly, but also at the level of physiological mechanisms and pathological disturbances. Pharmacology has its roots in therapeutics, where the aim is to ameliorate the effects of disease, so we have attempted to make the link between effects at the molecular and cellular level and the range of beneficial and adverse effects that humans experience when drugs are used for therapeutic or other reasons. Therapeutic agents have a high rate of obsolescence. In the decade 2008 to 2017, 301 new drugs gained regulatory approval for use as therapeutic agents. The majority exploit the same molecular targets as drugs already in use. Knowledge of the mechanisms of action of the class of drugs to which a new agent belongs provides a good starting point for understanding and using a new compound intelligently.
