5. Excercises

Exercise 1. Read drug names, find component elements carrying information about pharmaceutical characteristics, give their meaning:

Benzonalum, Dipheninum, Normotensum, Pyrimethaninum, Acetylcysteinum, Sulfalenum, Penicillaminum, Erythromycinum, Sulfathiazolum, Sulfamethoxazolum, Vancomycinum, Diphenhydraminum, Cyclosporinum, Methyluracilum, Hydrolysinum, Nitroglycerinum, Benzobarbitalum, Methindionum, Mycoseptinum, Chlorochininum, Cyclophosphamidum, Cyanocobalaminum, Cerebrolysinum.

Exercise 2. Translate from English into Latin:

Solution of papaverin, tincture of mint, granules of amidopyrin, ointment of xeroform, tablets of sulfadimezin, oil of eucalyptus, motherwort herb tincture, foxglove leaves powder, tablets of dibazol, fluid extract of hawthorn, oitment of ichthyol, solution of procainamid, tablets of phenobarbital, sage leaves tincture, decoction of oak cortex, mint leaves tincture, emulsion of castor oil, tablet of novocainamid, liquid ammonia, oil of peppermint, eucalyptus leaves tincture, tincture of calendula, leaf of common plantain, solution of salvin, matricary leaves, granule of plantaglucid, drops of eucatol, solution of aminophyllin, coltsfoot leaf granules.

Exercise 3. Translate from English into Latin, using the given vocabulary:

1. Give 10 ml of epinephrin solution.

2. Take 200 ml of valerian root tinсture.

3. Add 5 ml of castor oil.

4. Give 10 ml of menthol oil.

5. Take 30,0 of xeroform ointment.

6. Mix 5 ml of mint tincture and 10 ml of motherwort tincture.

7. Add 3 ml of peppermint oil.

8. Sterilize 20 ml of castor oil.

9. Take 5,0 of boromenthol ointment.

10. Give 25,0 of synthomycin liniment.

11. Mix 10 ml of lily of the valley tincture and 15 ml of valerian tincture.

12. Give 25 ml of motherwort extract.

13. Take 20,0 of castor oil emulsion.

14. Sterilize 200 ml of novocain solution.

LESSON 3

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MEDICAL PRESCRIPTION

LIQUIDS AND SEMISOLIDS IN PRESCRIPTIONS

In this lesson you will:

1. Become familiar with “medical prescription” and its components

1. Learn the requirements to the Latin part of the prescription

1. Learn to prescribe liquid and semisolid pharmaceutical forms

This lesson is divided into the following sections:

1. General information on a medical prescription

2. Requirements to the Latin part of a prescription

3. Liquid pharmaceutical forms in prescriptions

4. Semisolid pharmaceutical forms in prescriptions

5. The most-used prescription phrases I

6. Exercises.

1. General information on a medical prescription

The word "prescription" can be decomposed into "pre" and "script" and literally means "to write before" a drug can be prepared. The concept of prescriptions date back to the beginning of history. So long as there were medications and a writing system to capture directions for preparation and usage, there were prescriptions. Latin served a good purpose on prescriptions when they were first written in the 1400s. Spread widely by Roman soldiers and traders, Latin was the main language of western Europe for hundreds of years. It was unlikely to change, because it was a "dead" language, and it was unlikely to be misinterpreted, because it was exact in its meaning. Of course, the patients who didn't know Latin probably didn't have the vaguest idea what they were taking.

Who can issue prescriptions are governed by local legislation. In the United States, all states, physicians, veterinarians, dentists, and pediatrists have full prescription power. Many countries allow mid-level practitioners different prescription privileges. Nurse practitioners, physician assistants, optometrists, homeopathic physicians, registered pharmacists, naturopathic physicians, and doctors of oriental medicine currently represent the spectrum of mid-level practitioners. Each country regulates what (if any) prescription powers members of the above group are allowed.

Prescriptions are typically written on preprinted prescription forms that are assembled into pads. Preprinted on the form is text that identifies the document as a prescription, the name and address of the hospital or the prescribing doctor.

Predating modern legal definitions of a prescription, a prescription traditionally is composed of four parts: a "superscription", "inscription", "subscription" and "signature".

1. The “superscription” section contains the date of the prescription and patient information (name, address, age, etc).

2. The word “Recipe:” (in English prescriptions “Rx”) addressed to the pharmacist separates the superscription from the “inscriptions” section. This is literally an abbreviation for an exhortation to the patient to “take to” what is described in the inscription section. The inscription section defines what is the medication.

3. The “subscription” section contains dispensing directions to the pharmacist. This may be compounding instructions or quantities.

4. The “signature” section contains directions to the patient.

Latin in Prescriptions in Some English-speaking Countries: The only part of a prescription where Latin appears today, however, is in the directions for taking the drug. This use has become a kind of medical shorthand. Some of these abbreviated terms have the potential to cause medication errors because they look so similar in handwriting, so their use is on the decline.

E.g.:

ante cibum	ac	before meals
pro re nata	prn	as needed
quaque 3 hora	q 3 h	every 3 hours
ter in die	tid	3 times a day