Pharmacology is a component of Encyclopedia of Biological, Physiological and Health Sciences in the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), which is an integrated compendium of twenty one Encyclopedias. Pharmacology is the study of the actions of chemicals on the body and most usually it is defined as chemicals that can have a therapeutic action to treat disease. Since it looks at the interaction between chemicals and body systems pharmacology utilizes the basic disciplines of chemistry, biochemistry, physiology, pathology and microbiology in its practice. Pharmacology is a foundation science for pharmacy which is the rational prescribing of drugs to treat disease and the foundation science for toxicology which is the study of the toxic actions of chemicals on the body. The two volumes are organized in groups of chapters as follows: The first group of chapters discuss pharmacological principles and these include chapters on Pharmacodynamics; Pharmacokinetics, Neuropharmacology, Autonomic Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacology. The second group of chapters discusses the processes of Drug discovery and the Safety requirements for drugs to be used therapeutically and include Drug Discovery and Safety Pharmacology assessment. The largest group of chapters discuss different therapeutic areas and include Cardiovascular and renal pharmacology; Endocrine pharmacology; Neuropsychopharmacology; Pulmonary Pharmacology; Gastrointestinal pharmacology; Poisons venoms and toxins; Drugs on skeletal muscle; the Pharmacotherapy of inflammation; Reproductive pharmacology; Pain pharmacology and analgesia. The final group of chapters discuss new approaches and include Pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics; Immunopharmacology and Gene therapy. These two volumes are aimed at the following a wide spectrum of audiences from the merely curious to those seeking in-depth knowledge: University and College students Educators, Professional practitioners, Research personnel and Policy analysts, managers, and decision makers and NGOs.

The use of substances derived from plants, fungi, bacteria and marine organisms has a long tradition in medicine. This book highlights the biodiversity-driven approaches which are now of eminent importance in natural products research. It addresses the question why natural products display such a complex chemical information, what makes them often unique and what their characteristics are. A compilation of current applicable technology makes this a brilliant reference work.