What term describes substances used for medical treatment?

• A. Therapies
• B. Medications
• C. Drugs
• D. Treatments

Answer: (C)

Substances used for medical treatment are called drugs. A drug is any chemical agent that, when given to a patient, produces a physiological or biochemical effect with therapeutic goals—helping cure, relieve, or prevent illness. That makes drugs the broad category for the substances themselves. Therapies and treatments describe the overall approaches or plans used to care for a patient, not the substances. Medications is a closely related term referring to drug preparations used in therapy, but the general term for the substances is drugs. In practice, we talk about administering drugs to achieve specific therapeutic effects, which fits this definition.