babykitty
Stranger
Reged: 07/25/03
Posts: 12
Loc: USA South
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Please explain "half-life" of a medication. Why "half-life"? Why not "whole-life"?
Thanks
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537
Threadhead
Reged: 12/08/01
Posts: 774
Loc: west coast CA
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Here is a good and easy definition to understand it. LINK. I hope this helps. I'm sure many here can get more technical. I, myself prefer layman's terms when trying to learn something new.
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Whatsnew
Enthusiast
Reged: 09/27/03
Posts: 205
Loc: S.E. USA
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That info was to the point (i already understood that). The question is--why 1/2 life instead of whole life? To me that is like reading an obit. and it saying 'Sue Jones died today, she lived to a 1/2 life of 43'!!
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DBs member since Feb. '03
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toe
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 10/09/02
Posts: 1437
Loc: MidWest USA
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Maybe there is no firm data on when a drug is entirely eliminated. think abouthat old trick where you and a loved one stand on opposite side of the room. You each take one step towrds one another. Net, you take a step half the distance of the first. Then another, half the distance of the last, ad nauseaum.
You never meet.
In less philosophical terms, I believe half life is used to determine dosing schedules.
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"It's the end of the World as We Know it. . ."
-REM "and I'm seeking asylum in Canada"-toe
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537
Threadhead
Reged: 12/08/01
Posts: 774
Loc: west coast CA
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Well, honestly, I was answering babykitty's question. I had no prior knowledge of what your knowledge of what "half-life" is. Nor did I know you were posing the question also. Sorry.
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night_shade
Threadhead
Reged: 08/26/03
Posts: 907
Loc: The State of Hockey
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I agree with Toe's hypothesis. Half-life is also used to determine the action of radioactive substances. In chemistry, it is possible to accurately measure the half-lives of radiaoctive isotopes and because most of these isotopes are radioactive for thousands to millions of years, half-lives are easier to write and read. I believe the concept is similar in medicine, with the major exception being the metabolism rate differential in people. A half-life in medical terms would be a mean measure of the time it takes the average person to metabolize half the drug. It is probably a far more accurate measure than a "whole life" would be considering that, barring any hepatic or renal dysfunction or drug interactions, most chemicals probably metabolize very similarly for the first half and less measurably for the last half. Medicine IS science, so it doesn't surprise me that this chemistry term is used in relation to medications.
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Never underestimate the predictability of stupidity.
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TwG
Journeyman
Reged: 06/17/02
Posts: 68
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I think it is because half life is alot more useful than wholelife, it usually takes 3 days for most chemicals to be entirly out of your body, but this information isn't as useful as the half-life. With the half life you can track how much medicine is in the body at whatever time, with whole life this would be a lot more difficult. I also think that like everyone else is saying, it varies from person to person.
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Whatsnew
Enthusiast
Reged: 09/27/03
Posts: 205
Loc: S.E. USA
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Hey, no offense taken ma'am. We're all just here to help, and this is not the first time that you have helped me, so thanks again!
D 
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DBs member since Feb. '03
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