Using the knowledge you gained from the readings, evaluate how a typical drug, when orally administered, may be handled differently by these two patients:
Ms. Jones is a 30-year-old female personal trainer that is 5’ 4” tall weighing 110lbs.
She regularly drinks socially and sometimes more than a bit when she meets with her bi-weekly book club.
Mr. Smith is a 65-year-old software tester who is 6’ tall and weighs 235lbs. He drinks only occasionally.
Assume no other significant medical history or issues with either patient.
In your analysis, compare how the two patients will metabolize the drug considering weight, gender, distribution of body water and body fat, age, metabolic state, and alcohol use.
Explain how these factors impact the pharmacokinetics of the drug (half-life, dosage, route of administration, and elimination of the drug).
Evaluate the impact on the risk-benefit analysis of the use of this drug.
Guided Response: Review several of your colleagues’ posts and respond substantively to at least two of your peers by 11:59 p.m. on Day 7 of the week.
You are encouraged to post your required replies earlier in the week to promote more meaningful interactive discourse in this discussion.
Assess your peers’ responses for the correctness of their statements, their integration of the pertinent aspects of each patient’s situation, and their views of the risk-benefit analysis.
Please use information from the required resources to support your statements.
Continue to monitor the discussion forum until 5:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time (MST) on Day 7 of the week and respond to anyone who replies to your initial post.
Variations in Drug Response
When treatment drugs are administered to patients, the effect resulting from the drugs depend on the pharmacological and pharmacokinetic factors.
Each drug has specific pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics dynamics (Kraemer & Testa, 2009).
In the given case, the two patients have different features, which set them apart.
These features include age, gender, weight, height and consumption of alcohol.
When drugs are given to each of the two patients, the manner in which it is metabolized varies. The features identified of the people above cause these differences.
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