What are the three actions that drugs can take on the body?

Drugs can influence the body’s systems through three primary types of actions: stimulate, depress, and irritate.

When a drug stimulates the body, it enhances certain functions or increases activity in specific areas, leading to effects such as improved alertness or increased heart rate. This is often seen with stimulants like caffeine, which can lead to heightened energy levels.

Depressant drugs, on the other hand, work by slowing down brain activity and reducing functions such as respiration and heart rate. Common examples include alcohol and benzodiazepines, which can induce feelings of relaxation or sedation.

Irritation refers to how certain substances can provoke a response from the body that may lead to discomfort or adverse reactions, such as inflammation or pain. This action is more about the body's reaction to the drug rather than a therapeutic effect, and it can lead to side effects that patients may experience.

These three actions—stimulate, depress, and irritate—together encompass the broad spectrum of how drugs can interact with physiological systems in the human body, which makes option B the most comprehensive in describing the effects of drugs.