Drug tolerance

pharmacological concept describing subjects' reduced reaction to a drug following its repeated use

Drug tolerance (or physiological tolerance) is a term used to describe that the organism gets used to a given substance. Drug tolerance also means that over time a drug becomes less effective and larger amounts of the substance are needed to get the same effect.[1]

Physiological tolerance can be achieved in one of the following ways:

  1. By changing the number of receptors for a substance
  2. By changing the way the signal is handled
  3. By changing the receptors themselves
  4. By changing the system that antagonizes the receptor

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