Category: Pharmacology

Concept Map: Understanding the Agonist Spectrum in Psychopharmacology

Posted on | by Kelvin

As you continue to learn about psychopharmacology, you will find that medications used to treat mental health conditions are agonists across the spectrum. It will be important for you to recognize some of those medications and how they act on a variety of neurochemicals in different ways to treat the symptoms.
In this Assignment, you will “scavenger” the literature as you research the agonist spectrum and key neurotransmitters and pathways targeted in psychopharmacology. You will have the opportunity to apply your knowledge as you create a Concept Map exploring each of the agonist spectrum listed below. Support your answers with evidence-based, peer-reviewed scholarly literature. APA style format title page, citations, and references will apply.
Note: You will not set up your Assignment as a paragraph-formatted paper but, instead, as a creative, visually appealing Concept Map.

The Assignment.
You will submit a concept map exploring the four agonists on the agonist spectrum (agonist, partial agonist, antagonist, and inverse agonist) in which you:
• Describe the different characteristics of the four agonists and how each mediates distinct biological activities. Include proposed mechanisms and the receptor it is targeting.
• Identify how the P450 enzyme system plays a role in the body’s absorption, distribution, and clearance of medication.
• Scavenge the literature after describing each agonist on the spectrum for research that is based on the medications in the table below.
• Apply the medications to the appropriate agonist on the agonist spectrum in your Concept Map.

Medications
Oxycodone
Brexpiprazole
Haloperidol
Naloxone
Aripiprazole
Amphetamine
Risperidone
Pimavanserin

Exploring Key Aspects of Pharmacotherapy and Substance Use Disorders

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1. What is the role of Narcan with substance abuse?
2. What medication is the newest to be used in the treatment of opioid drug addiction and featured in MAT
treatment programs?
3. What type of pain medication is preferred for all cancer patients?
4. Are Benzodiazepines as addicting as Opioids?
5. Why is dextromethorphan abused?
6. What is the difference in NP practice in the Reduced vs. Restricted State?

The Role of Pharmacokinetics in Medication Management

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1. What is the Beer Criteria and what is its’ significance in prescribing?
2. What is the safest method of calculating a medication dose for the pediatric patient?
3.At what time period in a pregnancy can medication potentially have the greatest risk of causing
malformations?
4. If your patient sometimes forgets to take her medication, what type of medication half-life would be
beneficial?
5. Your patient is on the highest daily dose of his medication and it is not giving him the desired effect. What
type of metabolizer is he with this medication?
6. What food item interacts with many medications and should be asked about its’ ingestion, especially in the
elderly?

 

Addressing Unmet Clinical Needs in Future Medicine

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I need to answer all the following sections  A , B ,C  mention everything in  under the A , B ,C section Which means this (i) , (ii) ,(iii) ,(iv) , (v) which means each section have points that i need to include in my essay

Future medicene
Here is what is required :
(A) Outline TWO unmet clinical needs that could be addressed by your technology.
Each of the following points should be covered and explained clearly, concisely and accurately to give a balanced and informative overview of the clinical need:
(i) Inclusion of two distinct appropriate examples of unmet clinical need. These could be diseases or another need that the technology could be applied to, eg better diagnostics. Dependent on the technology, a specific disease (eg cystic fibrosis or a broad disease class (eg solid tumors) could be chosen.
(ii) Explanation of disease aetiology, including appropriate molecular detail eg gene names.
(iii) Explanation of disease progression and consequences, with statistics where relevant.
(iv) Discussion of epidemiology in UK and internationally, with indication of disease burden and scale of clinical need, and statistics where relevant.
(v) Explanation of current therapeutic approaches and discussion of their limitations. Depending on the disease, these could vary from no current curative treatment to a range of good therapies that could still be improved due to unpleasant side effects or poor compliance.
(B) Describe how distinct technologies within your chosen technology area could be used to address these needs.
Clear explanation of how approaches from within the technology area could be applied to each unmet clinical need. For a 2:1 or above, students should cover distinct approaches for each clinical need (eg siRNA and CRISPR, or microneedles and 3D printing). The following points should be addressed:
Explanation of how the technology works. This should include a clear and accurate summary of how this specific technological approach would be used to treat this specific clinical need, with appropriate mechanistic detail, but
(i) should be concise and focused on the topic being addressed.
(ii) Explain any variables in how this approach could be applied to this clinical need, for example delivery method or specific design choices (eg ASO modification), and which of these variables is most suitable/promising, with rationale for this choice. If several approaches are promising you can summarise this and explain why.
(iii) Give an accurate overview of clinical research and development to date.
Depending on the level of research this does not need to cover everything that fias been done, but should summarise the main approaches taken, the stage of development (eg pre-clinical, or specific clinical trial stage) and give an accurate overview of how successful this approach has been in research to date, with statistics if appropriate.
(C)Describe the barriers to clinical adoption of your chosen technology for each of these needs.
Balanced and critical overview of the likelihood of each of the chosen technological approaches becoming a useful approach to each clinical need in future. Exactly what is covered here will be very individual to the topic, and students should use their judgment to discuss the barriers that are relevant to the specific topics they have covered. As a general guideline, this answer should include:
(i) Consideration of any relevant barriers to your approach being used in clinical practice. These may include the practicalities of development and production, delivery, efficacy, cost, ethics, as possible examples, but the relevant barriers will be very specific to an individual approach. Discussion of generic barriers that are not relevant to this particular application will be marked down.
(ii) Discussion of any alternative approaches to the clinical keed that are also undergoing research or development and how these may influence the adoption of your chosen technological approach, where relevant.

 

The biopsychosocial model

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The following case illustration demonstrates and highlights the biopsychosocial model as it depicts the elements contributing to the client’s well-being.
Kisha’s Case
Kisha is a 28-year-old Caucasian female presenting with symptoms of possible depression and anxiety. Kisha reports that her boyfriend, Jack, asked her to marry him 2 months ago, but she has not yet accepted the proposal. Ever since, she has been feeling anxious, overeating, and sleeping 10 to 12 hours at a time. Kisha has been withdrawn from her friends because she knows that they do not support her relationship with Jack, as they believe that he is an alcoholic and has abused her. She also lacks interest in her work, has been taking numerous days off, and has demonstrated very low performance on her job duties. Kisha grew up in a very rigid and religious family. She states that her parents are very supportive of her, but they were always very critical toward her while she was growing up. Her father is very authoritative, and he is also a heavy drinker. While drunk, he often exhibits extremely violent and abusive behavior toward his wife and Kisha. Kisha’s relationship with her mother is strained because she is critical of her father’s behavior and often voices her disapproval of her father’s actions toward her mother. Kisha reports that her relationship with Jack has been rocky, with multiple breakups and a history of heated augments. Jack becomes extremely violent when intoxicated, and it reminds her of her father’s behavior and how that affected her family. Kisha’s religious beliefs cause her to feel guilt over her father and Jack’s drinking problems. She reports having a few good friends whom she sees “from time to time.” She expresses that she can “rely on them to vent her frustrations” but has recently “pulled back from them” because they do not approve of her relationship with Jack. Kisha and Jack have a history of domestic violence. She reported one incident of domestic violence to the police, in which Jack was arrested and referred to participate in anger management counseling. Although there has not been an incident since then, Kisha is worried that he might do it again when he drinks. Kisha reports no homicidal ideation, plan, or intent to do so. She also denies any personal alcohol or substance abuse.
In summary, Kisha is presenting symptoms of depression and anxiety. The symptoms and findings are prominent and clinically significant: oversleeping, overeating, isolative behavior, and feelings of anxiety. The symptoms are relatively acute. Protective factors include a supportive mother and friends, as well as Kisha’s insight and motivation for treatment. Significant biopsychosocial stressors include absences from work and her relationship with her supervisor and coworkers. Other stressors include her relationship with her boyfriend, Jack, and her traumatic experience while growing up with an abusive alcoholic father, a demanding mother, and also a history of domestic violence with her father and her boyfriend.
Reference Article (Nature vs Nurture): Reference this article with the case study in completing the discussion.
Link: https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-nature-versus-nurture-2795392
Questions
– What are the differences between nature and nurture? How do nature and nurture contribute to human development?
– As you read the case illustration, identify the biopsychosocial variables due to biological or environmental factors that you feel contribute to Kisha’s depression, anxiety, and other concerns. Discuss your observations and reference to the nature vs nurture article.