Question

At a dose of 10 mg, drug X lowers total cholesterol by 50 mg/dL, while a maximum drop in cholesterol of 65 mg/dL is achieved at 40 mg. At a dose of 5 mg, drug Y lowers cholesterol by 50 mg/dL, while a maximum drop in cholesterol of 55 mg/dL is achieved at 10 mg. What can be concluded about the efficacy and potency of these two drugs

Answer 1

Answer:

Drug Y is a more potent drug than drug X, while drug X is more efficacious than drug Y.

Explanation:

The efficacy of a drug has to do with the therapeutic effectiveness of the drug. It is the maximum effect a drug has irrespective of the dosage or concentration.

Drug X has a higher effect as it lowers cholesterol by 65mg/dL (maximum effect), than drug Y which lowers by 55mg/dL, thus making drug X more efficacious than drug Y.

Potency on the other hand, has to do with drug concentration and is the amount of drug needed to produce a required effect. Drug X is required in 10mg before it has a lowering effect of 50mg/dL while drug Y is required in 5mg to produce the same effect. This makes drug Y more potent than X because a lower dose is required.