Half-Life

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The page below is a sample from the LabCE course Pharmacology for the Clinical Chemist: Therapeutic Drug Monitoring and Pharmacogenomics. Access the complete course and earn ASCLS P.A.C.E.-approved continuing education credits by subscribing online.

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Half-Life

The amount of time it takes for a drug concentration in the body to decrease by 50% is called the drug's half-life (abbreviated t1/2).
The longer a drug's t1/2, the slower it is removed from the body. Most drugs are eliminated from the body in 1 to 3 days, but some drugs with longer half-lives can still be detected in the body for weeks after the initial dose.
1. Tokino. (2007, November 13). Medication half life. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Medication_half_life.png

Half-life in this example is 10 hours.