Wondering why body weight matters with certain drugs. It’s never made sense to me considering that drugs act on receptors in the brain, so I don’t see why body weight would matter if the drug is only affecting the brain receptors
In: Biology
Let’s start with the fact that many many many medications target receptors that aren’t situated in the brain. Neurons, synapses, epithelial cells, muscle cells, sex organs, lung tissue, liver, kidneys, etc.
Most drugs become distributed through your bloodstream. Overall weight correlates well with total circulating volume, so basing dosages on weight corresponds well to concentration of drug at any one time. Concentration is critical to activity at receptor sites, so it is important to have a suitable dose for the overall circulating volume.
Latest Answers