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Introduction to Pharmaceuticals

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  • First Online:
Handbook of Space Pharmaceuticals

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Abstract

The origin of medicine dates back to prehistoric era with use of crude, natural compounds in the beginning. Development in discoveries was gradual with increase in natural sources of medicines followed by generation of new scientific theories and principles. The chronological journey leads us today to astonishing developments in terms of new dosage forms, drug delivery systems, and surgical procedures. The further progress is predicted to occur only with extensive interdisciplinary studies and proper application of technological advances.

The fields of studies in every aspect have grown in the last two centuries by leaps and bounds, and space explorations are not left behind. Once upon a time, man thought of landing on moon, and the day man landed the moon was 20 July 1969. Similarly, a day will come he will land on Mars, and maybe space tourism will flourish soon. The inevitable part here is use of medicines in space. Space environment poses different set of challenges that need extensive research. The present discussion talks about various studies for maintaining stability, efficacy, and safety and extending shelf life of medicines for astronauts working in spaceflights. We have some information on short-time space travels, but data for effects of long-term travel in space is missing. So also if a common man travels to space, the requirements will be significantly different from those of the present-day trained astronaut travel. The previous experience of astronauts and available data of these studies, both in space and simulated environment on Earth, set tone for further approaches which will give assurance of stability of medicines in space.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gurunanak College of Pharmacy, Nagpur, India

    Keshav S. Moharir, Vinita V. Kale & Abhay M. Ittadwar

  2. College of Pharmacy, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA

    Y. V. Pathak

  3. Faculty of Pharmacy, Airlangga University, Surabaya, Indonesia

    Y. V. Pathak

  4. USF Health Taneja College of Pharmacy, University of South Florida, Tampa , FL, USA

    Y. V. Pathak

Authors
  1. Keshav S. Moharir
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  2. Vinita V. Kale
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  3. Abhay M. Ittadwar
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  4. Y. V. Pathak
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Y. V. Pathak .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Health College of Pharmacy, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA

    Yashwant Pathak

  2. PUCRS, Partenon, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

    Marlise Araújo dos Santos

  3. BioServe Space Technologies, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA

    Luis Zea

Section Editor information

  1. Health College of Pharmacy, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA

    Yashwant Pathak

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Moharir, K.S., Kale, V.V., Ittadwar, A.M., Pathak, Y.V. (2020). Introduction to Pharmaceuticals. In: Pathak, Y., Araújo dos Santos, M., Zea, L. (eds) Handbook of Space Pharmaceuticals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50909-9_11-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50909-9_11-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-50909-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-50909-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Chemistry and Mat. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics

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