Pharmacologists study the effects of drugs on living things, including how they affect tissues, organs, and microorganisms. They may specialize in fields such as pharmacodynamics and toxicology, and are responsible for ensuring the safety and effectiveness of drugs. They must be knowledgeable about the complex biology of the body and how chemicals interact with it.
A pharmacologist is a scientist who studies the complex interactions between chemicals and living things. Any chemical that has an effect on a creature is considered a drug, and much of a pharmacologist’s time is spent studying the effects that different drugs have on tissues, organs, and their functions. Pharmacologists should not be confused with pharmacists, who are primarily concerned with dispensing medications.
Pharmacology has many different fields, and a pharmacologist may be involved in one or many of them. One of these fields is pharmacodynamics, which involves the relationships between living beings and drugs. This branch not only studies how drugs can affect the body, but also how they can affect the organisms and microorganisms that live inside the body.
Another field that a pharmacologist might be concerned with is toxicology. In this field, the scientist examines the negative effects that poisons have on the body, in addition to the treatment of these toxic chemicals. The most important factor a toxicologist must look at is the amount, or dose, of the chemical and how well the body reacts to different amounts of poison.
Human beings, for many thousands of years, have been using and experimenting with different types of plants and chemicals for their effects and for their ability to cure various diseases and ailments. In the early 20th century, the field of pharmacology developed as advances made in chemistry allowed for the detailed study of these substances. It was because of these many technological discoveries that scientists were finally able to extract the effective chemicals from their sources and manufacture drugs. Pharmacologists are still concerned with not only extracting these useful chemicals, but they are also responsible for ensuring their safety and effectiveness.
A pharmacologist must be educated in the complex biology associated with the body and its many different types of cells to know their relationships with chemicals. He or she is often concerned with how a chemical is broken down or absorbed within the body. Another issue is how a given chemical can travel through a biological system and which organs are and are not affected. Often, the pharmacologist will also study how drugs are metabolized in the body and whether or not they have the potential to be transformed into a different, possibly toxic, chemical. Finally, pharmacologists must also be concerned with how chemicals leave the body, what amounts remain, and for how long.
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