A medicine's goal is to prevent, treat, or eliminate a symptom, condition, or disease state. To put it another way, a medicine serves a benign purpose; It is a product that is made and regulated to help a patient get better medically.
Additionally, a medication typically consists of numerous components. Excipients are additional substances that aid in the formulation and efficacy of a medication for a patient in addition to the active ingredient.
What then is a drug?
In contrast to a medicine, a drug can either benefit or harm a patient. Heroin, for instance, is a substance that has a particular biological effect, making it a drug. Heroin, on the other hand, does not fall under the category of a drug that "prevents, alleviates or cures a symptom, ailment or disease state." In this way, heroin is not a drug.
However, medicines and drugs can also be poisons. This is contingent on the medication's dosage. "All things are poisons and nothing is without poison, only the dosage makes a thing not poison," said Paracelsus (1493–1541).
In conclusion, not all medicines are medicines, but all medicines are drugs.
Therefore, there is a small but significant distinction between a drug and a medicine. More posts that examine these kinds of medical terminological differences can be found on our pharmacy blog.
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