د "درملپېژندنه" د بڼو تر مېنځ توپير

Medication is said to have a narrow or wide ''[[therapeutic index]]'' or ''therapeutic window''. This describes the ratio of desired effect to toxic effect. A compound with a narrow therapeutic index (close to 1) exerts its desired effect at a dose close to its toxic dose. A compound with a wide therapeutic index (greater than 5) exerts its desired effect at a dose substantially below its toxic dose. Those with a narrow window are more difficult to dose and administer, and may require [[therapeutic drug monitoring]] (examples are [[warfarin]], some [[antiepileptic]]s, [[aminoglycoside]] antibiotics). Most anti-cancer drugs have a narrow therapeutic margin: toxic side-effects are almost always encountered at doses used to kill tumours.

 

Medication can be usually classified in various ways, e.g. by its chemical properties, mode of administration, or biological system affected. An elaborate and widely used classification system is the [[Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification System]].