| antipsychotic | <pharmacology> A drug that is effective in the treatment of psychosis. Antipsychotic drugs (also called neuroleptic drugs and major tranquillisers) are a chemically diverse (including phenothiazines, thioxanthenes, butyrophenones, dibenzoxazepines, dibenzodiazepines and diphenylbutylpiperidines) but pharmacologically similar class of drugs used to treat schizophrenic, paranoid, schizoaffective and other psychotic disorders, acute delirium and dementia and manic episodes (during induction of lithium therapy), to control the movement disorders associated with Huntington disease, Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome and ballismus and to treat intractable hiccups and severe nausea and vomiting. Antipsychotic agents bind to dopamine, histamine, muscarinic cholinergic, a adrenergic and serotonin receptors. Blockade of dopaminergic transmission in various areas is thought to be responsible for their major effects: antipsychotic action by blockade in the mesolimbic and mesocortical areas, extrapyramidal side effects (dystonia, akathisia, parkinsonism and tardive dyskinesia) by blockade in the basal ganglia and antiemetic effects by blockade in the chemoreceptor trigger zone of the medulla. Sedation and autonomic side effects (orthostatic hypotension, blurred vision, dry mouth, nasal congestion and constipation) are caused by blockade of histamine, cholinergic and adrenergic receptors. (13 Nov 1997) |
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| antipsychotic agent | A functional category of neuroleptic drugs that are helpful in the treatment of psychosis and have a capacity to ameliorate thought disorders (e.g., chlorpromazine, haloperidol). See: neuroleptic. Synonym: antipsychotic, major tranquilliser. (05 Mar 2000) |
| antipsychotic agents | Agents that control agitated psychotic behaviour, alleviate acute psychotic states, reduce psychotic symptoms, and exert a quieting effect. They are used in schizophrenia, senile dementia, transient psychosis following surgery or myocardial infarction, etc. These drugs are often referred to as neuroleptics alluding to the tendency to produce neurological side effects, but not all antipsychotics are likely to produce such effects. Many of these drugs may also be effective against nausea, emesis, and pruritus. (12 Dec 1998) |
| antipsychotic agents, butyrophenone | Those butyrophenone derivatives used in the treatment of psychoses. (12 Dec 1998) |
| antipsychotic agents, phenothiazine | Phenothiazine derivatives used in the treatment of psychoses. (12 Dec 1998) |
| drug-drug interaction | The effects that occur when two or more drugs are used together. Such effects include changes of absorption in the digestive tract, changes in rate of the drugs' breakdown in the liver, new or enhanced side effects and changes in the drugs' activity. (09 Oct 1997) |
| abnormalities, drug-induced | Congenital abnormalities caused by medicinal substances or drugs of abuse given to or taken by the mother, or to which she is inadvertently exposed during the manufacture of such substances. The concept excludes abnormalities resulting from exposure to non-medicinal chemicals in the environment. (12 Dec 1998) |
| activity, drug | A measure of the physiological response a drug produces in the body. A less active drug produces less response (and visa versa). (12 Dec 1998) |
| addictive drug | Any drug that creates a certain degree of euphoria and has a strong potential for addiction. (05 Mar 2000) |
| adverse drug reaction reporting systems | Systems developed for collecting reports from government agencies, manufacturers, hospitals, physicians, and other sources on adverse drug reactions. (12 Dec 1998) |
| akathisia, drug-induced | Motor restlessness with sensations of quivering and an urge to move about constantly resulting from the use of certain drugs, such as neuroleptic drugs, which affect the extrapyramidal region of the brain. This differs from dyskinesia, drug-induced in that long-term antipsychotic drug exposure is significantly correlated with the increased prevalence of akathisia while there is no such correlation with dyskinesia. The primary observable distinction between tardive akathisia and dyskinesia appears to be in the repetitive, stereotypy of the dyskinesic movements (lip smacking, for example), while akathisia is associated with anxiety, restlessness, and agitation (psychomotor agitation). (12 Dec 1998) |
| antineoplastic drug | A drug that stops or slows the maturation and spread of tumour cells (benign or malignant). (09 Oct 1997) |
| maintenance drug therapy | In chemotherapy, systematic dosage at a level that maintains protection against exacerbation. (05 Mar 2000) |
| rational drug design | <pharmacology> Modeling the molecular structure of the target of a drug, for example, an antigen, and then designing a drug that will attack it. (17 Dec 1997) |
| receptors, drug | Proteins that bind specific drugs with high affinity and trigger intracellular changes influencing the behaviour of cells. Drug receptors are generally thought to be receptors for some endogenous substance not otherwise specified. (12 Dec 1998) |