It is interesting that we begin by discovering the etymological origin of the term drug. Thus, we can state that it is a word that derives from Greek, specifically from "pharmakon", which can be translated as "medicine".
According to the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ), drug is synonymous with medicine : a substance that is used to prevent, alleviate or cure an illness and repair its consequences .
A drug is a synthetic or natural material that, due to its properties, can cause a functional or anatomical effect in a living being . The component that has the toxic or pharmacological properties is called the active ingredient .
The chemical composition of drugs is known exactly, so that they can be precisely dosed to achieve the desired effects. This allows us to know what physiological or functional changes they will produce in the body once they are ingested.
The health authorities of a nation only authorize the marketing and distribution of a drug when there are sufficient studies and trials about its effects on a large number of individuals. In this way, the possibility of an adverse result is minimized.
Currently we can establish that there are two fundamental types of drugs if we take into account what they are purchasing. Thus, on the one hand, there are those that can only be purchased in pharmacies with a medical prescription, that is, the doctor must have prescribed it through the relevant document so that his patient can purchase it. These are medications that are going to be used in a treatment that will have its corresponding medical control.
On the other hand, there are those that are sold freely, that is, without the need for a medical prescription. And it is considered that they are safe medications and that they can be used for specific and common ailments among the population such as a simple headache, for example.
If we take into account, however, what its use is, we find a wide variety of types of drugs. Among them are the following:
-Anti-allergy, which is responsible for ending the negative effects that an allergic reaction has had.
– Analgesics , which have the function of relieving physical pain.
-Anti-inflammatories, which seek to reduce inflammation, as its name indicates.
-Laxatives, which are prescribed with the clear objective of putting an end to a constipation situation.
-Antipyretics, which reduce fever.
Beyond what is indicated by the RAE in its dictionary, in the field of pharmacy the notion of medicine is usually used to refer to a product in which one or more drugs (with active ingredients) are combined with substances that are not active. at a pharmacological level (the excipients ). Excipients help produce, store, transport and dispense medications, although the effects are produced exclusively by the active ingredients of the drugs.
Paracetamol is an example of a drug. In this case, the drug serves to relieve pain (it is an analgesic) and to combat fever (it has antipyretic properties).