drugs
Overview of Response to Drugs
Introduction
Everyone responds to drugs differently. The way a person responds to a drug is affected by many factors, including Genetic Makeup and Response to Drugs None Age Body size Use of other drugs and dietary supplements (such as Overview of Dietary Supplements ) Consumption of food (including beverages) Presence of diseases (such as kidney or liver disease) Storage of the drug (whether the drug was stored too long or in the wrong environment) Development of Tolerance and Resistance to Drugs None Whether people take a drug as instructed ( Adherence to Drug Treatment ) also affects their response to it. These factors may affect Because so many factors affect drug response, doctors must choose a drug appropriate for each person and must adjust the dose carefully. This process is more complex if the person takes other drugs and has other diseases, because drug-drug and drug-disease interactions are possible. A standard or average dose is determined for every new drug. But the concept of an average dose can be like "one size fits all" in clothing: It may fit a range of people well enough, but it may fit almost no one perfectly. For some drugs, however, the dose does not have to be adjusted, because the same dose works well in virtually everyone. 