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Clark's rule is a medical term referring to a mathematical formula used to calculate the proper dosage of medicine for children aged 2–17 based on the weight of the patient and the appropriate adult dose. [1] The formula was named after Cecil Belfield Clarke (1894–1970), a Barbadian physician who practiced throughout the UK, the West Indies ...
Dosage forms (also called unit doses) are pharmaceutical drug products presented in a specific form for use. They contain a mixture of active ingredients and inactive components ( excipients ), configured in a particular way (such as a capsule shell) and apportioned into a specific dose .
For example, if the desired total daily amount is 600 mg per day, they may decide a dosage plan that has one 200 mg dose taken three times a day, or one 300 mg dose taken twice a day, or a single 600 mg dose take once a day. Medication underdosing occurs commonly when physicians write prescriptions that are correct for a certain time, but fails ...
Another use is in the therapeutic drug monitoring of drugs with a narrow therapeutic index. For example, gentamicin is an antibiotic that can be nephrotoxic (kidney damaging) and ototoxic (hearing damaging); measurement of gentamicin through concentrations in a patient's plasma and calculation of the AUC is used to guide the dosage of this drug ...
The median effective dose is the dose that produces a quantal effect (all or nothing) in 50% of the population that takes it (median referring to the 50% population base). [6] It is also sometimes abbreviated as the ED 50, meaning "effective dose for 50% of the population". The ED50 is commonly used as a measure of the reasonable expectancy of ...
In pharmacokinetics, a loading dose is an initial higher dose of a drug that may be given at the beginning of a course of treatment before dropping down to a lower maintenance dose. [ 1 ] A loading dose is most useful for drugs that are eliminated from the body relatively slowly, i.e. have a long systemic half-life .
Consideration has to be given to what is known as "drug loading" - the ratio of the active drug to the total contents of the dose. A low drug load may cause homogeneity problems. A high drug load may pose flow problems or require large capsules if the compound has a low bulk density.
Drug titration is the process of adjusting the dose of a medication for the maximum benefit without adverse effects. [ 1 ] When a drug has a narrow therapeutic index , titration is especially important, because the range between the dose at which a drug is effective and the dose at which side effects occur is small. [ 2 ]