Question

What factors might be considered in determining the "safety threshold" of a drug's theraputic index?

Answer 1

Answer.

.The therapeutic index of a drug is the ratio between the dosage that causes a toxic/lethal effect and the dosage that causes a therapeutic effect. In pharmacotherapy, it is significant to monitor the right dosage of a drug in order to avoid any drug toxicity. Several factors can influence the safety index of a drug.

Firstly, It is the interaction of the drug molecules and drug receptors that brings about a therapeutic effect. However, it is crucial to administer the drug in the right dose in to achieve a positive effect. If a drug is taken in large doses, it could cause adverse effects. Thus, in order to ensure the benefits with medication,it is essential to assess the right dose for the patient.

Secondly, the age and medical condition of the patient can also influence the safety index. monitoring might be required when the patient is affected by a medical condition that has an adverse effect on the metabolism of a drug with narrow therapeutic index. drug metabolism could vary from person to person and it is found to be usually low for old patients.

Thus drugs with small differences between therapeutic and toxic doses can produce more serious implications for the treatment. In general it is important to ensure that the specific medication has a large therapeutic index as The larger the therapeutic index, the safer the drug is.