chapter 30 pharmacological interventions + terms

The chief neurotransmitter released into the synapse from the nerve's presynaptic membrane during neurotransmission.

A stimulus that raises the resting membrane potential above a specific threshold.

A complex of symptoms associated with the continuum of cardiovascular disease, emphasizing its morbidity (and more importantly, its mutability) and not simply its mortality.

Death of cardiac muscle tissue.

The transmission of a nervous system signal using adrenaline as the neurotransmitter.

A drug or other chemical that can combine with a receptor on a cell to produce a physiologic reaction typical of a naturally occurring substance.

Competitive blockers occupying the adrenergic receptor and preventing the catecholamine drug from attaching to the adrenergic receptor. These can be divided as either long-acting and short-acting or competitive and noncompetitive.

A drug or other chemical that interferes with the physiological action of another substance, especially by combining with and blocking its nerve receptor.

Drugs that block acetylcholine from binding to either muscarinic or nicotinic receptors and stop parasympathetic activity.

A chronic lung disorder marked by recurrent airway obstruction and labored breathing.

The underlying pathology of coronary artery disease, which starts as a streak of fat (cholesterol) on the walls of an artery. The fat infiltrates into the wall of the artery and forms a fatty lesion.

The body system that maintains the involuntary, yet essential, life-preserving functions such as digestion.

Medicines that block the sympathetic nervous system action at the Beta receptors.

Drugs that preferentially targets either Beta1 or Beta2 receptors.

Narrowing of the airway's lumen.

Widening of the airway's lumen.

Beta-selective drugs that only affect the heart.

A classification of very potent adrenergic agonists that cause a direct response from the adrenergic receptor.

The transmission of a nervous system signal using acetylcholine as the neurotransmitter at the motor endplate.

The thickening process through which the blood makes clots.

The process the body uses to manufacture fibrin and fibrinogen.

The heart's inability to pump strongly enough to completely meet the body's needs for oxygen and nutrients.

• The series of events that leads up to and includes myocardial infarction.
• Depolarization
• A cascade of ionic changes at a cell wall that occurs as electrolytes transfer across the cell in an attempt to balance (neutralize) the charge.

Medications that cause the increased loss of fluid and salts from the body.

An abnormality of the electrical activity in the heart.

To occur in an abnormal or atypical position.

Multiple recurrent episodes of ventricular fibrillation.

A stimulus prompting an airway spasm that originates outside the body, such as pollen, dust, and mold.

Transient fine muscle contractions, seen after administration of a depolarizing neuromuscular blocker.

An elastic, insoluble, whitish protein produced by the action of thrombin on fibrinogen and forming an interlacing fibrous network in the coagulation of blood.

A protein in the blood plasma that is essential for the coagulation of blood and is converted to fibrin by the action of thrombin in the presence of ionized calcium.

An anticoagulant released from the endothelium of the walls of the arteries that temporarily prevents blood clot formation in the narrowed coronary arteries.

An abnormally high level of triglycerides and cholesterol which, when uncontrolled, can lead to atherosclerosis.

The development of low sodium potassium in the blood serum.

A stimulus prompting an airway spasm that originates within the body, such as through stress or exercise.

Slow acting substances of anaphylaxis that produce chemical effects similar to histamine and help to prolong the inflammation.

Drugs that thin mucous secretions and physically break down the viscosity of mucus by breaking apart the mucoprotein structure.

Parasympathetic neuroreceptors that are slower than nicotinic receptors and indirectly open ion channels that cause depolarization. By definition, they are more sensitive to muscarine, a naturally occurring chemical found in mushrooms, than to nicotine.

Substances that inhibit the transmission of painful sensations to the brain and spinal cord by adjusting, or modulating, the rate of a neuron's discharge.

A chemical receptor that receives messages from the neurotransmitters.

A chemical messenger that transmits a nervous signal across the synapse.

Chemical receptors from the parasympathetic nervous system found in the central and peripheral nervous system as well as the neuromuscular junction with skeletal muscles.

A colorless, poisonous gas involved in oxygen transport to the tissues, the transmission of nerve impulses, and other physiological activities.

The chief neurotransmitter used in the sympathetic nervous system.

The portion of the autonomic nervous system responsible for the body's involuntary vegetative functions including digestion, heart rate, and the like, largely controlled by the vagus nerve. These functions are summarized as feed and breed.

A chemical agent that mimics the action of acetylcholine.

Fatty lesion formed in the artery as a result of atherosclerosis.

A concentrated mass of platelets that serve as a short-term fix to a plaque rupture.

The reabsorption of a neurotransmitter by a neuron following impulse transmission across a synapse.

The process of re-opening an artery to restore blood flow.

The reexcitation of a region of the heart by a single electrical impulse, which may cause ectopic beats, tachyarrhythmia, or an abnormal conduction mechanism.

To change the shape of something, such as the interior chamber of a ventricle.

The restoration of a polarized state across a membrane, as in a muscle fiber following contraction or the recovery of the myocardial cell.

A difference in the electrical potential between the outside of the cell and the inside of the cell while in a resting state.

Drugs that prolong the repolarization of normal myocardial tissues, as electrographically demonstrated by a prolonged QT interval.

A neurotransmitter found primarily in the gastrointestinal tract that causes arterial and venous constriction.

Persistent bronchospasm that is resistant to routine treatments.

The portion of the autonomic nervous system responsible for those emergency responses that are at stand-by, ready to provide the person with the ability to flee (flight) or fight.

Drugs that mimic the effects of the sympathetic neurotransmitter norepinephrine.

A protease in blood that facilitates blood clotting by converting fibrinogen to fibrin.

A mature clot made of platelets cross-linked with fibrin and other blood cells in a firm meshwork; a blood clot.

Drugs which act upon the ionic channels during the open/active state and preferentially will be attracted to rapidly depolarizing ectopic pacemakers.

The major parasympathetic nerve which originates in the medulla, exits the skull at the base of the brain, travels down the neck , branches into the heart and lungs, innervates the stomach, passes through the digestive tract, and ends in the anus.

A chemical that causes vasoconstriction, particularly on the arterioles.