Pharmacology

Pharmacology is the study of how drugs interact with living organisms to produce a change in function. If substances have medicinal properties, they are considered pharmaceuticals. The field encompasses drug composition and properties, interaction, toxicology, therapy, and medical applications and antipathogenic capabilities. Pharmacology is not synonymous with pharmacy, which is the name used for a profession. Though in common usage the two terms are confused at times. Pharmacology deals with how drugs interact within biological systems to affect function, while pharmacy is a medical science concerned with the safe and effective use of medicines. The origins of clinical pharmacology date back to the Middle Ages in Avicenna's The Canon of Medicine, Peter of Spain's Commentary on Isaac, and John of St Amand's Commentary on the Antedotary of Nicholas. Pharmacology as a scientific discipline did not further advance until the mid-19th century amid the great biomedical resurgence of that... full article at wikipedia