Pharm Chapter 14 Glossary

Front 1

Akinesia

Back 1

reduction or lack of psychomotor activity of voluntary muscles

Front 2

Anticholinergic drugs

Back 2

Drugs that block or impede the activity of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine (Ach) at cholinergic receptors in the brain.

Front 3

Catechol ortho-methyltransferase (COMT) inhibitors

Back 3

A class of indirect-acting dopaminergic drugs that work by inhibiting the enzyme COMT, which catalyzes the breakdown of dopamine.

Front 4

Chorea

Back 4

A condition characterized by involuntary, purposeless, rapid motions such as flexing and extending the fingers, raising and lowering the shoulders, or grimacing. In some forms, the person is also irritable, emotionally unstable, weak, restless, and fretful.

Front 5

Dopaminergic drugs

Back 5

Drugs used to replace the deficiency of dopamine at dopamine receptors in the nerve endings, especially in the brain when treating Parkinson’s disease (PD) (can be direct- or indirect-acting or replacement drugs).

Front 6

Dyskinesia

Back 6

An impaired ability to execute voluntary movements.

Front 7

Dystonia

Back 7

Impaired or distorted voluntary movement due to a disorder of muscle tone. The condition commonly involves the head, neck, and tongue and often occurs as an adverse effect of a medication.

Front 8

Endogenous

Back 8

Describes any substance produced by the body’s own natural biochemistry (e.g., hormones, neurotransmitters).

Front 9

Exogenous

Back 9

Describes any substance produced outside of the body that may be taken into the body (e.g., a medication, food, or even an environmental toxin).

Front 10

On-off phenomenon

Back 10

A common experience of patients being medicated for Parkinson’s disease in which they experience periods of greater symptomatic control (“on” time) alternating with periods of lesser symptomatic control (“off” time).

Front 11

Parkinson’s disease (PD)

Back 11

A slowly progressive, degenerative neurologic disorder characterized by resting tremor, pill-rolling of the fingers, masklike facies, shuffling gait, forward flexion of the trunk, loss of postural reflexes, and muscle rigidity and weakness.

Front 12

Presynaptic drugs

Back 12

Drugs that exert their antiparkinsonian effects before the nerve synapse.

Front 13

Wear off phenomenon

Back 13

A gradual worsening of Parkinsonian symptoms as a patient’s medications begin to lose their effectiveness, despite maximal doses with a variety of medications.