Directions
Answer the following study guide quesons to help guide you in your learning for this week’s topic(s).
Your answers must be written in your own words, paraphrasing what you have learned from your
research. Include in-text citaons with each response and then full references at the boom in current
APA professional paper format.

• What factors place an infant and child at risk when prescribing medicaons?
• What adverse drug reacons (ADRs) are the elderly and infants/children at risk of developing?
• What are the acons and side eects of alpha and beta receptor agonists?
• What are the acons and side eects of alpha and beta receptor antagonists?
• What are the acons and side eects of cholinergic receptor agonists?
• What are the acons and side eects of cholinergic receptor antagonists?

What to Submit
Your answers in a MicrosoWord or PDF document
In-text citaons and full citaons on a reference page
If you use a textbook, include the page number or numbers you consulted to respond to the
queson. This will allow you to easily locate the informaon later.
If you copy and paste references from the course into your assignment, be sure to conrm current APA
professional paper formang (hps://lmscontent.embanet.com/MVU/Syllabus/APA_Style.html) before
subming.

SAMPLE ANSWER

Study Guide Questions 3

Pediatric Risk Factors When Prescribing Medication

Some of the factors that place infants at risk when prescribing medication include the use
of off-label drug prescriptions, polypharmacy, illegible prescriptions, and wrong dosing
calculations (Conn et al., 2019)

Adverse Drug Reactions

Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are common in older adults and pediatric patients. Most
ADRs for geriatric patients are associated with increased comorbidity and attached
polypharmacy, wrong prescriptions, inadequate monitoring of drugs, and age-related changes in
pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics (Delara et al., 2022). The common adverse reactions
for the elderly usually relate to increased fall risk, hyper or hypotension, renal failure,
gastrointestinal and intracranial bleeding, and delirium. For children, the common ADRs affect
the skin, gastrointestinal complications, and reactions related to the renal and central nervous
system.

Actions and Side Effects of Alpha and Beta Receptor Agonists
Alpha and beta-receptor agonists, both classified as adreno-receptors, generally work by
stimulating certain alpha and beta receptors. The stimulation induces smooth contraction and
vasoconstriction, which mimics the characteristics of the sympathetic adrenergic nerve activation
to the blood vessels. This, in turn, increases the heart rate and cardiac output, forces constriction
of blood vessels, and ultimately increases blood pressure (Archer et al., 2021). The side effects
of alpha and beta receptor agonists include hypertension, blurred vision, headaches, dizziness,
nausea, hypersensitivity, abdominal pain, reflex bradycardia, tachycardia, and fatigue.

STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS 3

Actions and Side Effects of Alpha and Beta Receptor Antagonists
Alpha and beta receptor antagonists work contrary to adreno-agonists. They work by
inhibiting the stimulation of certain alpha and beta receptors. This, in turn, causes dilation of the
blood vessels, which lowers the heart rate and cardiac output, which ultimately causes a drop in
blood pressure (Archer et al., 2021). Some of the side effects associated with alpha and beta
receptor antagonists include swelling, fatigue, dizziness, lightheadedness, shortness of breath,
itching, and bradycardia

Actions and Side Effects of Cholinergic Receptor Agonists

Work by mimicking the action of acetylcholine on muscarinic receptors. The drug
directly binds to and activates the target muscarinic receptors, causing the release of
acetylcholine (Brannan et al., 2021). The effect varies depending on the muscarinic receptors
targeted. For example, in the cardiac system, the release of acetylcholine acts as a vasodilator
thus decreasing blood pressure, cardiac output, and heart rate. in the gastrointestinal muscarinic
receptors, it increases peristalsis. Some common side effects associated with cholinergic receptor
agonists include excessive sweating, nausea, rhinitis, increased urinary frequency, rash, diarrhea,
bradycardia, hypotension, and cardiac arrest. and dry mouth.

Actions and Side Effects of Cholinergic Receptor Antagonists
Cholinergic receptor antagonists act by competitively blocking the binding of
acetylcholine to muscarinic receptors, resulting in an anticholinergic response (Brannan et al.,
2021). Some of the side effects attached to cholinergic receptor antagonists include cramping,
hypertension, tachycardia, diarrhea, incontinence, nausea, and vomiting

STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS 4

References

Archer, M., Dogra, N., Dovey, Z., Ganta, T., Jang, H. S., Khusid, J. A., … & Kyprianou, N.
(2021). Role of α-and β-adrenergic signaling in phenotypic targeting: significance in
benign and malignant urologic disease. Cell Communication and Signaling, 19(1), 1-21.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12964-021-00755-6
Brannan, S. K., Sawchak, S., Miller, A. C., Lieberman, J. A., Paul, S. M., & Breier, A. (2021).
Muscarinic cholinergic receptor agonist and peripheral antagonist for schizophrenia. The
New England Journal of Medicine, 384(8), 717–726.
https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2017015
Conn, R. L., Kearney, O., Tully, M. P., Shields, M. D., & Dornan, T. (2019). What causes
prescribing errors in children? Scoping review. BMJ Open, 9(8), e028680.
https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2018-028680
Delara, M., Murray, L., Jafari, B., Bahji, A., Goodarzi, Z., Kirkham, J., & Seitz, D. P. (2022).
Prevalence and factors associated with polypharmacy: A systematic review and meta-
analysis. BMC Geriatrics, 22(1), 601. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-022-03279-x