Classification
Medications can be classified in various ways, such as by chemical properties, mode or route of administration, biological system affected, or therapeutic effects. An elaborate and widely used classification system is the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification System (ATC system). The World Health Organization keeps a list of essential medicines.
A sampling of classes of medicine includes:
- Antipyretics: reducing fever (pyrexia/pyresis)
- Analgesics: reducing pain (painkillers)
- Antimalarial drugs: treating malaria
- Antibiotics: inhibiting germ growth
- Antiseptics: prevention of germ growth near burns, cuts and wounds
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