LECTURE NOTES
For Health Science Students
Pharmacology
Teferra Abula, Srinivasa A.Rao, Amare Mengistu,
Solomomon Worku, Eshetu Legesse, Musie Aberra, Dawit
University of Gondar
In collaboration with the Ethiopia Public Health Training Initiative, The Carter Center,
the Ethiopia Ministry of Health, and the Ethiopia Ministry of Education
2004
, Funded under USAID Cooperative Agreement No. 663-A-00-00-0358-00.
Produced in collaboration with the Ethiopia Public Health Training Initiative, The Carter
Center, the Ethiopia Ministry of Health, and the Ethiopia Ministry of Education.
Important Guidelines for Printing and Photocopying
Limited permission is granted free of charge to print or photocopy all pages of this
publication for educational, not-for-profit use by health care workers, students or
faculty. All copies must retain all author credits and copyright notices included in the
original document. Under no circumstances is it permissible to sell or distribute on a
commercial basis, or to claim authorship of, copies of material reproduced from this
publication.
©2004 by Teferra Abula, Srinivasa A.Rao, Amare Mengistu,
Solomomon Worku, Eshetu Legesse, Musie Aberra, Dawit
All rights reserved. Except as expressly provided above, no part of this publication may
be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without written permission of the author or authors.
This material is intended for educational use only by practicing health care workers or
students and faculty in a health care field.
,ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank the Carter Center for the initiation and financial support of the
preparation of this material.
Ato Getu Degu’s role in coordinating this work is greatly acknowledged.
Finally, we thank the department heads and the faculty heads of the health institutions for their
cooperation to participate in the preparation of the lecture note.
i
, INTRODUCTION
Pharmacology is a medical science that forms a backbone of the medical profession as drugs
form the corner stone of therapy in human diseases. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to
describe the pharmacological basis of therapeutics in order to maximize the benefits and
minimize the risks of drugs to recipients. This lecture note on pharmacology is primarily a note
for undergraduate health science students such as health officer, nursing, midwifery and
laboratory technology students. However, other health professionals whose career involves
drug therapy or related aspects should also find much of the material relevant.
The goal is to empower the practitioner through an understanding of the fundamental scientific
principles of pharmacology. The effects of prototypical drugs on physiological and
pathophysiological processes are clearly explained to promote understanding. Other related
drugs are touched briefly. The selection of the drugs is based on the national drugs list for
Ethiopia and on the accumulated experience of teaching pharmacology to many health
profession students.
The chapters open with a list of objectives to guide the reader, and most end with questions
which challenge the reader’s understanding of the concepts covered with in the chapter. Most
sections have an introduction that provides an overview of the material to be covered.
Readers are encouraged to refer the references mentioned for further information and we hope
that this material will be a valuable companion in our pursuit of a fundamental understanding in
a most fascinating area of clinical knowledge, pharmacology.
The Authors
April 2004:
ii
For Health Science Students
Pharmacology
Teferra Abula, Srinivasa A.Rao, Amare Mengistu,
Solomomon Worku, Eshetu Legesse, Musie Aberra, Dawit
University of Gondar
In collaboration with the Ethiopia Public Health Training Initiative, The Carter Center,
the Ethiopia Ministry of Health, and the Ethiopia Ministry of Education
2004
, Funded under USAID Cooperative Agreement No. 663-A-00-00-0358-00.
Produced in collaboration with the Ethiopia Public Health Training Initiative, The Carter
Center, the Ethiopia Ministry of Health, and the Ethiopia Ministry of Education.
Important Guidelines for Printing and Photocopying
Limited permission is granted free of charge to print or photocopy all pages of this
publication for educational, not-for-profit use by health care workers, students or
faculty. All copies must retain all author credits and copyright notices included in the
original document. Under no circumstances is it permissible to sell or distribute on a
commercial basis, or to claim authorship of, copies of material reproduced from this
publication.
©2004 by Teferra Abula, Srinivasa A.Rao, Amare Mengistu,
Solomomon Worku, Eshetu Legesse, Musie Aberra, Dawit
All rights reserved. Except as expressly provided above, no part of this publication may
be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without written permission of the author or authors.
This material is intended for educational use only by practicing health care workers or
students and faculty in a health care field.
,ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank the Carter Center for the initiation and financial support of the
preparation of this material.
Ato Getu Degu’s role in coordinating this work is greatly acknowledged.
Finally, we thank the department heads and the faculty heads of the health institutions for their
cooperation to participate in the preparation of the lecture note.
i
, INTRODUCTION
Pharmacology is a medical science that forms a backbone of the medical profession as drugs
form the corner stone of therapy in human diseases. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to
describe the pharmacological basis of therapeutics in order to maximize the benefits and
minimize the risks of drugs to recipients. This lecture note on pharmacology is primarily a note
for undergraduate health science students such as health officer, nursing, midwifery and
laboratory technology students. However, other health professionals whose career involves
drug therapy or related aspects should also find much of the material relevant.
The goal is to empower the practitioner through an understanding of the fundamental scientific
principles of pharmacology. The effects of prototypical drugs on physiological and
pathophysiological processes are clearly explained to promote understanding. Other related
drugs are touched briefly. The selection of the drugs is based on the national drugs list for
Ethiopia and on the accumulated experience of teaching pharmacology to many health
profession students.
The chapters open with a list of objectives to guide the reader, and most end with questions
which challenge the reader’s understanding of the concepts covered with in the chapter. Most
sections have an introduction that provides an overview of the material to be covered.
Readers are encouraged to refer the references mentioned for further information and we hope
that this material will be a valuable companion in our pursuit of a fundamental understanding in
a most fascinating area of clinical knowledge, pharmacology.
The Authors
April 2004:
ii
