Can someone better explain to me about the drug Half Life.
Dealing with the Serum Drug level (Peak & tough) and give me an example of the Half Life: like when to administer a drug if its half life is......
2007-02-01 14:24:50 · 3 answers · asked by ??ThiNk PiNk?? 3 in Education & Reference ➔ Higher Education (University +)
Well - if you use recombinant insulin (fast acting insulin) as an example - a dose has a half life depending on dosage.
For a unit for instance, the half life is about 1/2 hour, and the total life of the injection is 1 hour.
For a drug like Paxil (an antidepressant) lasts about 24 hours - so it peaks at about 12 hours, then begins to decline.
However this can be tweaked by pill casing and design of the drug. For instance for some insulins, peak is actually much closer to injection time (say a 24 hour insulin) were peak is actually 5 or 6 hours after injection, then trails off. This works for pills as well.
Another example - Neurotin - takes days to reach potency in the system, and trails off over a long period as well.
So to keep an adequate amount in the system (for seizures or neuropathy) one needs to keep a constant dose in the system over time. A patient may need to take it two, or even three times a day in order to maintain an adequate long term dosage in the system.
Hope this helps some,
-dh
2007-02-01 14:33:12 · answer #1 · answered by delicateharmony 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes. Half life. The time it takes for half of the drug to be cleared from the system. A half life of 2 hours means that every 2 hours the drug concentration is half what it was at the beginning of each 2 hour period.
Peak concentration is the time the drug concentration in the blood is highest after administration of the drug.
2007-02-01 22:27:34 · answer #2 · answered by Just Chillin' 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Ohio
2007-02-01 22:32:29 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋