Pharmacy

right|thumb|250px|The Green Pharmacy Cross (sometimes overlaid with Bowl of Hygieia), is widely used in on pharmacy signs. thumb|A medication is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. thumb|The Apothecary or The Chemist by Gabriël Metsu (–67)

A pharmacist, also known as a chemist in Commonwealth English (excluding Canada), is a healthcare professional who is knowledgeable about preparation, mechanism of action, clinical usage and legislation of medications in order to dispense them safely to the public and to provide consultancy services. A pharmacist also often serves as a primary care provider in the community and offers services, such as health screenings and immunizations.

400px|thumb|right|A graph depicting a typical time course of drug plasma concentration over 96 hours, with oral administrations every 24 hours. The main pharmacokinetic metrics are annotated. Steady state is reached after about 5 × 12 = 60 hours. Pharmacokinetics (from Ancient Greek pharmakon 'drug' and kinetikos 'moving, putting in motion'; see chemical kinetics), sometimes abbreviated as PK, is a branch of pharmacology dedicated to describing how the body affects a specific substance after administration. The substances of interest include any chemical xenobiotics such as pharmaceutical drug

thumb|350px|Dioscorides’ [[Materia Medica, copy in Arabic, describes medicinal features of various plants.]]

develops, produces, and markets drugs or pharmaceuticals licensed for use as medications

thumb|Topics of pharmacodynamics Pharmacodynamics (PD) is the study of the biochemical and physiologic effects of drugs (especially pharmaceutical drugs). The effects can include those manifested within animals (including humans), microorganisms, or combinations of organisms (for example, infection).

Pharmaceutics is the discipline of pharmacy that deals with the process of turning a new chemical entity (NCE) or an existing drug into a medication to be used safely and effectively by patients. The patients could be either humans or animals. Pharmaceutics helps relate the formulation of drugs to their delivery and disposition in the body. Pharmaceutics deals with the formulation of a pure drug substance into a dosage form.

A biopharmaceutical, also known as a biological medical product, or biologic, is any pharmaceutical drug product manufactured in, extracted from, or semisynthesized from biological sources. Different from totally synthesized pharmaceuticals, they include vaccines, whole blood, blood components, allergenics, somatic cells, gene therapies, tissues, recombinant therapeutic protein, and living medicines used in cell therapy. Biopharmaceuticals can be composed of sugars, proteins, nucleic acids, or complex combinations of these substances, or may be living cells or tissues. They (or their precursor

drug that satisfies the health care needs of the majority of the population according to WHO

unintended effect due to administration of one or more drugs

Self-medication, sometimes called do-it-yourself (DIY) medicine, is a human behavior in which an individual uses a substance or any exogenous influence to self-administer treatment for physical or psychological conditions, for example headaches or fatigue.

symbol of pharmacy

medication legally requiring a medical prescription before it can be dispensed

thumbnail|A marijuana dispensary A dispensary is an office in a school, hospital, industrial plant, or other organization that dispenses medications, medical supplies, and in some cases even medical and dental treatment. In a traditional dispensary set-up, a pharmacist dispenses medication per the prescription or order form. The English term originated from the medieval Latin noun and is cognate with the Latin verb dispensare, 'to distribute'.

Pharmacogenomics, often abbreviated "PGx", is the study of the role of the genome in drug response. Its name (pharmaco- + genomics) reflects its combining of pharmacology and genomics. Pharmacogenomics analyzes how the genetic makeup of a patient affects their response to drugs. It deals with the influence of acquired and inherited genetic variation on drug response, by correlating DNA mutations (including point mutations, copy number variations, and structural variations) with pharmacokinetic (drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination), pharmacodynamic (effects mediated throu

An excipient or inactive ingredient is a substance formulated alongside the active ingredient of a medication. They enhance the active ingredient's therapeutic properties; to facilitate drug absorption, to modify viscosity, to enhance solubility, to improve long-term stabilization (preventing denaturation and aggregation during the expected shelf life). During the manufacturing process, excipients can improve the handling of active substances and facilitate powder flow. The choice of excipients depends on factors such as the intended route of administration, the dosage form, and compatibility

extent to which the patient follows prescribed treatment responsibly, in the broader sense including both medication and appointments

discipline of pharmacy

thumb|Polypharmacy is often defined as taking 5 or more medicines. Polypharmacy (polypragmasia) is an umbrella term to describe the simultaneous use of multiple medicines by a patient for their conditions. The term polypharmacy is often defined as regularly taking five or more medicines but there is no standard definition and the term has also been used in the context of when a person is prescribed 2 or more medications at the same time. Polypharmacy may be the consequence of having multiple long-term conditions, also known as multimorbidity and is more common in the elderly. In some cases, an

Nutraceutical is a term that evolved scientifically and also through marketing which is used to imply a pharmaceutical effect from plant extracts, compounds, food products which have efficacy and therapeutic influence on clinical outcomes and patient care largely through supplements.

thumb|Pharmacist compounding a medication using a mortar and pestle ()

profession

pharmacological term

statistical measure of drug consumption

observing, recording, or detecting the effects of a chemical substance administered to an individual

thumb|Blue and white albarello adorned with the traditional colors of Chinese Porcelain and decorated with designs derived from Kufic script, a style of Arabic script. Manufactured in Tuscany, Italy in the second half of the 15th century. An albarello (a name of Italian descent, plural: albarelli) is also known as a "maiolica drug jar" because of the type of tin glaze used, known as Maiolica (also known as majolica). This cylindrical storage unit is used for a plethora of purposes, most commonly for drug storage in pharmacies as a medicinal jar. The jar was also used for other purposes such as

provision of medication-related care

computer-based electronic generation, transmission, and filling of medical prescriptions

branch of pharmacy focused on radiopharmaceuticals

tablet coating to delay release of the medication until after the tablet leaves the stomach

any one of a number of processes by which a drug is eliminated (that is, cleared and excreted) from an organism either in an unaltered form (unbound molecules) or modified as a metabolite

medical condition

list of medicines; collection of formulas for the compounding and testing of medication

common health care cost

American legal mechanism

thumb | alt=Pharmacists filling prescriptions at a computer | Pharmacy personnel deliver medical prescriptions electronically; remote delivery of [[prescription drugs is a feature of telepharmacy.]] Telepharmacy is the delivery of pharmaceutical care via telecommunications to patients in locations where they may not have direct contact with a pharmacist. It is an instance of the wider phenomenon of telemedicine, as implemented in the field of pharmacy. Telepharmacy services include drug therapy monitoring, patient counseling, prior authorization and refill authorization for prescription drugs,

practice in medicine and pharmacy in which the physician who provides a medical prescription is independent from the pharmacist who provides the prescription drug