. This online course is offered through the Center for Distance Learning. You can take this as an individual course or as part of an online degree program, with term starts in March, May, September, November and January. View current term offerings and all online courses. Click here to register for online courses.
Other Areas: The Arts | Business, Management & Economics | Community & Human Services | Communications, Humanities & Cultural Studies | Educational Studies | Historical Studies | Human Development | Labor Studies | Science, Math & Technology | Social Theory, Structure & Change
Liberal Study
Upper Level
Credits: 4
Meets General Education Requirement In: Natural Sciences-Full
Term(s) Offered (Subject to Change) :
In this study, students will explore the therapeutic effects of drugs on the human body. Drugs will be studied in the context of body systems that they affect and diseases that they are used to treat. Students will study the molecular mechanisms of actions of drugs, and how those mechanisms of action relate to clinical use. A holistic approach will be used to examine the relationship between lifestyle habits, such as exercise and nutrition, and the effects of drugs. Therapeutic classes to be covered include drugs used to treat nervous system disorders (e.g. anxiety, depression, psychosis, seizures, Parkinson’s disease, or pain), cardiovascular diseases (e.g. hypertension, heart attack, stroke, blood clots, or heart failure), infectious diseases (e.g. bacterial, fungal, and viral infections, including HIV), endocrine conditions (e.g. diabetes or menopause), cancer, and asthma.
Students will read from the text Core Concepts in Pharmacology by Norman Holland and Michael Adams. The text will be supplemented with recently-published articles from the popular press and the biomedical literature. Students will analyze case studies to demonstrate practical application of the basic science concepts. A final project will allow students to explore a health topic of their choosing in more depth.
Prerequisites: Human Biology or equivalent. Suggested: one semester of chemistry
This course fully meets the General Education requirement in Natural Sciences.
