Agent, antifungal
Agent, antifungal: A drug used to treat fungal infections.
Examples of antifungal drugs include miconazole (MONISTAT) and clotrimazole (LOTRIMIN, MYCELEX).
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- Agent, antihypertensive
Agent, antihypertensive: As the name suggests, a drug aimed at reducing high blood pressure (hypertension).
- Agent, antiprotozoal
Agent, antiprotozoal: An agent that destroys protozoa or inhibits their growth and ability to reproduce. A few of the protozoa of medical importance include Plasmodium (the cause of malaria); Entamoeba histolytica (the cause of amebiasis, amebic dysentery) and Trichomonas vaginalis (a cause of vaginal infection); and Pneumocystis carinii (a common cause of pneumonia [PCP] in […]
- Agent, antiviral
Agent, antiviral: An agent that kills viruses or suppresses their replication and, hence, inhibits their capability to multiply and reproduce. For example, amantadine (Symmetrel) is a synthetic (man-made) drug that inhibits the multiplication of the influenza A virus and was once used to prevent the flu. Safer medicines such as oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza) […]
- Agent, tocolytic
Agent, tocolytic: A medication that can inhibit labor, slow down or halt the contractions of the uterus. Tocolytic agents are widely used today to treat premature labor and permit pregnancy to proceed so the fetus can gain in size and maturity before birth.
- Aggressive
Aggressive: In oncology, quickly growing, tending to spread rapidly. As, for example, an aggressive tumor.