Wiktionary
n. (context medical English) The lowest pharmaceutical dosage required to cause effect in 50% of average individuals.
Wikipedia
Effective dose may refer to:
- Effective dose (pharmacology), a dose of pharmacologic agent which will have a therapeutic effect
- Effective dose (radiation), a measure of the stochastic effect on health risk that a radiation dose internal or external to whole or part of the body will have
An effective dose (ED) in pharmacology is the dose or amount of drug that produces a therapeutic response or desired effect in some fraction of the subjects taking it.
It has been stated that any substance can be toxic at a high enough dose. This concept was exemplified in 2007 when a California woman died of water intoxication in a contest sanctioned by a radio station. The line between efficacy and toxicity is dependent upon the particular patient, although the dose administered by a physician should fall into the predetermined therapeutic window of the drug.
The importance of determining the therapeutic range of a drug cannot be overstated. This is generally defined by the range between the minimum effective dose (MED) and the maximum tolerated dose (MTD). The MED is defined as the lowest dose level of a pharmaceutical product that provides a clinically significant response in average efficacy, which is also statistically significantly superior to the response provided by the placebo. Similarly, the MTD is the highest possible but still tolerable dose level with respect to a pre-specified clinical limiting toxicity. In general, these limits refer to the average patient population. For instances in which there is a large discrepancy between the MED and MTD, it is stated that the drug has a large therapeutic window. Conversely, if the range is relatively small, or if the MTD is less than the MED, then the pharmaceutical product will have little to no practical value.
Effective dose is a dose quantity in the International Commission on Radiological Protection system of radiological protection.
It is the tissue-weighted sum of the equivalent doses in all specified tissues and organs of the human body and represents the stochastic health risk to the whole body, which is the probability of cancer induction and genetic effects, of low levels of ionising radiation. It takes into account the type of radiation and the nature of each organ or tissue being irradiated, and enables summation of organ doses due to varying levels and types of radiation, both internal and external, to produce an overall calculated effective dose.
The SI unit for effective dose is the sievert (Sv) which represents a 5.5% chance of developing cancer. The effective dose is not intended as a measure of deterministic health effects, which is the severity of acute tissue damage that is certain to happen, that is measured by the quantity absorbed dose.
The concept of effective dose was developed by Wolfgang Jacobi and published in 1975, and was so convincing that the ICRP incorporated it into their 1977 general recommendations (publication 26) as "effective dose equivalent". The name "effective dose" replaced the name "effective dose equivalent" in 1991. Since 1977 it has been the central quantity for dose limitation in the ICRP international system of radiological protection.
Usage examples of "effective dose".
Drawing back into the shadow, Moreta turned to join the group by the centrifuge, standing a little to one side-the better to watch Alessan, as the healers discussed the quantity of vaccine they would need, the minimum effective dose, and how they could discreetly discover how many runners were in-holded.
Drawing back into the shadow, Moreta turned to join the group by the centrifuge, standing a little to one sidethe better to watch Alessan, as the healers discussed the quantity of vaccine they would need, the minimum effective dose, and how they could discreetly discover how many runners were inholded.
This, or 20 grains of the powdered bark, is an effective dose for worms if followed by a purgative.
Cally picked the distinctive orange and yellow package because this particular diuretic combination was not just fast acting, it was also mostly tasteless and the effective dose was small.