Information about the guide
This is a book about drug names. It is about using the letters at the beginning or the end of a generic drug's name as a way to identify what type of drug it is and what it is for. When a new generic drug is being given its name, the WHO promotes the adoption of a ‘name stem’ (a prefix or suffix) that is the same as those of other drugs in the same drug class (World Health Organisation, 2013). INN stems, therefore, are helpful in revealing the connections between chemically and therapeutically related medicines. For example:
All ACE inhibitors are given names that end with the suffix ‘‐ramipril’ (as in ramipril, see Chapter 2) and…
All cephalosporin class antibiotics have names beginning with the prefix ‘cef‐’ (as in ceftriaxone, see Chapter 9), etc.
The easiest way to use the Drug Recognition Guide is to look in the Index of Drugs. This will give you the page (or pages) the drug is on and the pharmaceutical group to which it belongs. Soon you will begin to recognise patterns in the name stems of commonly prescribed drugs.
Many drug groups have name stems that are so distinctive that it is easy to use them as a way to distinguish one class from another. However, endings such as ‘‐dine’, ‘‐ide’, ‘‐mine’, ‘‐one’ (pronounced ‘own’), ‘‐tine’, ‘‐zine’ and ‘‐zole’ are not uncommon in pharmacology and so cannot be used – in isolation – as a way to differentiate between drug groups. Accordingly, the Drug Recognition Guide recommends that readers take a more exact and all‐inclusive look at drug suffixes. For example: instead of just noting the ending ‘‐zole’, the suffixes ‘‐prazole’ and ‘‐rozole’ respectively can be read to distinguish proton pump inhibitors (i.e., pantoprazole: see Chapter 1) from aromatase inhibitors (i.e., letrozole: see Chapter 10).
In situations where the letters used in the stem of one drug group are similar or, more rarely, the same as the letters used in the stem of another drug group, then a coloured background – as seen here – is used to highlight drugs that have names with similar lettering.
Colour‐highlighting a drug's name stem not only aids recognition but also (by appearing to visually segment the name) makes it easier to read – and therefore – easier to pronounce. For example, the antibacterial agent phenoxymethylpenicillin (see Chapter 9) becomes slightly easier to say with its suffix colour highlighted as phenoxymethylpenicillin.
References
1 Dilles, T., Vander Stichele, R., Van Bortel, L. et al. (2011). Nursing students' pharmacological knowledge and calculation skills: ready for practice? Nurse Education Today, 31 (5), 499–505.
2 Joint Formulary Committee (2019). BNF 78: September 2019–March 2020. 78th ed. London: BMJ and the Pharmaceutical Press.
3 King, R.L. (2004). Nurses' perceptions of their pharmacology educational needs. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 45 (4), 392–400 [online]. Wiley Online Library. Available from: doi: https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2648.2003.02922.x.
4 Manias, E. (2009). Pharmacology content in undergraduate nursing programs: is there enough to provide safe and effective care? International Journal of Nursing Studies, 46 (1), 1–3.
5 Pearson, M., Carter, T., McCormick, D. et al. (2018). Pharmacology training in mental health nurse education: justification for an increase in frequency and depth in the UK. Nurse Education Today, 62, 36–38.
6 Royal Pharmaceutical Society (2016). A competency framework for all prescribers. Royal Pharmaceutical Society [online], 2. Available from: https://www.rpharms.com/resources/frameworks/prescribers-competency-framework.
7 World Health Organisation (2013). The use of stems in the selection of International Nonproprietary Names (INN) for pharmaceutical substances. Stem book 2013 [online]. Available from: https://www.who.int/entity/medicines/services/inn/StemBook_2013_Final.pdf.
1 Drugs that affect the gastrointestinal system
Aminosalicylates
Antimuscarinics
Antispasmodics
Direct‐acting smooth muscle relaxants
H2‐receptor antagonists
Laxatives
Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs)
Note: antimuscarinics are drugs that can also be used to treat respiratory disorders (see Chapter 4), bradycardia, genitourinary disorders and Parkinson's disease (see Chapter 5) and nausea and vomiting (see Chapter 7).
Aminosalicylates
Aminosalicylates are anti‐inflammatory drugs given to treat gastric inflammation associated with conditions such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. Aminosalicylates are derivatives of salicylic acid: a natural substance originally obtained from willow bark, which has been used as a medicine for thousands of years (Hippocrates had written about the therapeutic properties of willow as far back as 400 B.C.). The Latin term for willow is ‘salix’, from which is derived the word ‘salicylic’. The active ingredient in willow – salicin – metabolises in the body into salicylic acid. In the nineteenth century salicylic acid began to be produced synthetically. In addition to aminosalicylates, salicylic acid is now the basic ingredient in a number of related anti‐inflammatory drugs, including aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid: see Chapters 3 and 6). Aminosalicylates have generic names that contain the letters ‘‐sal‐’, resulting in names ending in either ‘‐salazide’ or ‘‐salazine’:
Balsalazide
Mesalazine
Olsalazine
Sulfasalazine
Despite
