Magic Molecules How Drugs Work

Much more than a consumer handbook, this volume conveys the fascinating science behind drugs. It covers all drugs from penicillin to Prozac, caffeine to cocaine, as well as recreational drugs and natural drug alternatives.

All of us are drug users, in the broadest sense of the word. Drugs can be medicines, they can be used for pleasure, and they can also be used to protect our long-term health. It is important that we are well informed about the drugs we use - how they work, their benefits and their risks. This book is a unique guide for the general science reader to the drugs of everyday life - from the main types of medicine through to recreational drugs and food supplements. It looks at how drugs interact with their targets in the body, where they come from, how they are developed and what drugs to expect in the future. All the major pharmaceutical medicines are reviewed - painkillers, antibiotics, anti-cancer drugs, anti depressants, heart drugs, tranquillizers and hormones. However this book is much more than a consumer handbook - it also conveys the fascinating science of drug discovery in an easily accessible way.

List of illustrations; Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1. How drugs work; 2. From penicillin to Prozac: introducing pharmaceutical drugs; 3. Fighting infection; 4. The hormonal revolution; 5. Cardiovascular drugs: protecting the heart and brain; 6. The problem of pain; 7. The cancer challenge; 8. Drugs for the mind; 9. Drugs of recreation and addiction; 10. Natural alternatives: vitamins, minerals and herbs; 11. In the pipeline: gene-based medicine; Bibliography; Index.

We are all drugs users. From caffeine to cocaine and Prozac to penicillin, drugs play an important part in our lives, both medically and recreationally. In clear and accessible language for the popular science reader, Susan Aldridge describes the science of how drugs work.