Pharmacokinetic, growth and development

During the different stages of life, processes of immaturity, maturity and aging occur, where the body undergoes different changes such as anatomical, physical and biochemical, these processes alter the pharmacokinetics of drugs, together with the individual comorbidities and nutritional status of each patient. It is therefore important to know the pharmacokinetics to individualize medical therapeutics. A fundamental aspect of medicine is medical therapeutics. Unfortunately, only the body weight is considered to administer the dose of a drug, hoping that the therapeutic response is good and similar in different groups of patients, without considering the homeostatic vision of the organism and biological variability. Pharmacological success is evaluated through the empirical test and error criterion, therefore the pharmacological dose is increased or decreased according to the response. It is not generally questioned whether the therapeutic dose is adequate to achieve and maintain plasma levels within the therapeutic range, which is very important to ensure the pharmacological goal. The application of the principles of pharmacokinetics in therapeutic management is important to predict distribution and elimination of drugs in the body through knowledge of plasma concentration curves. The purpose of this chapter is to sensitize the physician and health professionals, to give a better pharmacological management in children.