Magic Molecules: How Drugs Work (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780521584142)

We have all been drug users at one time or another. Drugs can be used as medicines, as food additives, for pleasure, and to protect our long-term health. With so many new drugs on the market and an ever-widening definition of what exactly makes a drug a drug, we should all be well informed about the drugs we use--how they work, their benefits, and their risks. This book is a unique guide for the general reader to the drugs of everyday life--from commonly prescribed medicines to recreational drugs (including illicit ones) and food supplements. The author examines how drugs interact with their targets in the body, where drugs come from, how they are developed, and what new kinds of drugs are on the horizon. She reviews all the major pharmaceutical medicines--painkillers, antibiotics, anti-cancer drugs, anti-depressants, heart drugs, tranquilizers, and hormones. Much more than a consumer handbook, this volume conveys the fascinating science behind drugs in an easily accessible way.

Author: Susan Aldridge
ISBN-10: 0521584140
ISBN-13: 9780521584142
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 09/28/1998
Pages: 284
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.31lbs
Size: 9.28h x 6.25w x 0.92d