What is medicine?

What Does medicine Mean

In order to know the meaning of the term medicine, we are going to proceed, first of all, to discover its etymological origin. In this case, we can underline that it is a word that derives from Latin, specifically emanates from “medicamentum”.

Moreover , we can establish that it is the result of the union of the following lexical components: -The verb "mederi", which is synonymous with "cure.

-The suffix “-ico”, which can be translated as “relative to”.

-The suffix “-ment”, which is used to indicate both “result” and “instrument”.

The term refers to the substance that is used for the prevention, relief or cure of a disease or for the repair of its sequelae .
There are several words that can act as synonyms for medicine. Among these we can highlight some such as drug, medicine, potion, remedy, concoction, concoction, antidote, potion, drug, preparation or even ointment.
There are medications that are applied externally and others that must be ingested. They usually contain one or more drugs that act to treat disorders that affect health .

Medicines must be dispensed with the endorsement of the country's health authorities . Before receiving permission to be marketed, the drugs are analyzed and subjected to numerous tests to check their effects on people or animals.
The control and management of medicines is so important that there are institutions and organizations such as, for example, the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS). It was launched in 1997, it is a state agency and its main function is the evaluation and authorization of marketing of medicines, health products and cosmetics.
Drugs (which are the active principles ) and excipients (which are inactive at the pharmacological level) appear in the composition of a medicine . The combination of these materials in each case constitutes the pharmaceutical form of the product in question.
This pharmaceutical form, also called a galenic form , allows the dose of the medicine to be normalized . In this way, it is sought to guarantee the efficacy of the dosage.
Depending on the way it is marketed, it is possible to differentiate between the prescription drug and the over-the-counter drug . The prescription drug is only sold upon a written indication from a medical professional. The over-the-counter medicine, on the other hand, is marketed in any pharmacy without a prescription or prescription.
If we take into account the use of medications, these can be classified into:

-Pain relievers, which serve to relieve and end pain.

-Antiacids, which reduce gastric secretions.

-Antidiarrheal, which relieve and stop diarrhea.

-Antiallergics, which fight against the effects caused by an allergy.

-Anti-inflammatory, which reduce the effects of inflammation.

-Anti-infectious, useful to deal with infections.

-Antitussive, which help reduce non-productive cough.

-Antipyretics, which are to reduce and end fever.

Regarding the routes of administration, the drugs can be oral , sublingual , subcutaneous , intramuscular , intravenous or transdermal , to name a few possibilities. The format is usually linked to your therapeutic objective.

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