Drug Classifications

[johnnrachel]

Help :rotfl: Can anyone tell me where to find the list which contains the common endings found in drug names. Today someone told me that it helps in learning the drugs, kind of like in bio where they said any word that ends in "ase" is an enzyme. I know this theory carries onto the drug names as well to a limit. Any suggestions is appreciated, it is not in my Davis drug book. Thanks a lot. :)

[suzanne4, RN]

There is really no set list. Remember that the names that we normally use are made up by the drug company. Sure, anything ending with a "caine" normally means some type of anesthetic agent. But for most of the others, it is just knowing the drug. Especially with all of the cardiacs, etc.

Good luck. :)

[meownsmile, BSN, RN]

I agree i dont know any sites per se,, but if you look at the drug book you can find some common suffixes that can help. aminoglycosides= mycin. calcium channel blockers have ca in them,, beta blockers=olol, Ace inhibitors=pril, miotics=car. A lot of medication have a common part of the name. You can look through your book maybe and find a few more. Nursing made insanely easy had these, and it isnt necissarily correct for all in each category. There may be other beta blockers say, that dont have olol in their names. Keep looking im sure youll find others.