Therapeutic Relevance : Providing answers
The questions of How much? How often? How long?? and many more are answered by the drug's pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies. This will in turn result in better and safer use of drugs for treatment. Empirical Approach in Designing Dosage Regimen Earlier the dosage regimen of drugs was established through trial and error by adjusting factors such as dose, dose interval etc and then observing its effects. With this a regimen can be set up but with excessive side effects and ineffective therapy. It also doesn't explain the apparent difference in regimes for different drugs, nor the principles underlying that leads to effective dosage of other drugs. Rational Approach With advancement, its now understood that its the concentrations at the active site that drive the responses rather than the dose and to obtain and sustain the response, appropriate exposure-time profile of the drug within the body needs to be generated. Th...