![A person in a white lab coat and blue gloves touching a screen with a holographic human body and data readouts.](https://biobeat.nigms.nih.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/BioBeat-10.6.2023-1.jpg)
What we put into our bodies can affect how they function and what they do. For example, a sugary snack will probably make you feel differently than a high-protein meal. Similarly, different medicines elicit different responses in your body, and pharmacologists try to fine-tune each medicine to balance the desired (on-target) with the undesired (off-target) effects—a branch of pharmacology called pharmacodynamics.
Most medicines work by binding to a molecular target, usually proteins like receptors or enzymes, and either blocking or supporting its activity, which results in their therapeutic effects.
Continue reading “How Do Medicines Work?”