3 Medicine And Drugs Flashcards
Why are medical drugs tested? 3
- its effectiveness
- it’s toxicity
- the most appropriate dose
What are statins?2
- they lower the amount of cholesterol in the blood
- they can reduce the risk of heart disease
What is a drug?
A substance that affects chemical reactions in the body
What is addiction?
When you become physically or mentally dependant on a drug
Why are drugs such as cannabis, cocaine and heroin such a problem?2
- cannabis may cause mental health problems
- cocaine and heroin can cause serious health problems
Why is testing new drugs so important?3
- to see if they work well
- make sure they are not too toxic
- have no unacceptable side effects
How do frogs like caffeine, nicotine and cocaine affect your nervous system?2
They speed up the activity of your brain
Making you feel more alert and energetic
Give an example of a drug that slows down your responses of your brain?2
Alcohol
Cannabis
How do people move from using recreational drugs to hard drugs?
Because cannabis is illegal and has to be obtained from a drug dealer
Is cannabis harmful?
It leads to mental illness in some people with teenagers being particularly vulnerable
What type of drugs are generally used in sports?
Anabolic steroids are drugs that help build up muscle mass
How can drugs help give you more stamina? 2
- A drug can be used to stimulate your body to make more red blood cells
- So they can carry more oxygen to their muscles
How can painkillers be used by athletes?
They allow the athlete to train and compete with an injury
Why do athletes use drugs? 3
- they want to win
- they feel that other athletes are using these substances
- the health risks are just scare stories
What is a placebo?
A substance used in clinical trials which does not contain the drug at all
Who knows who is given the new drug in double blind trials?
Neither the doctor nor the patient
Why is a placebo used?
To make sure that there are no other explanations other than the drug
Give one example of a recreational drug that is very addictive?
Coffee
Alcohol
Why don’t painkillers cure infectious diseases?
They only treat symptoms
Don’t kill pathogens
For a fair trial what factors should be matched?
As many as possible: Age Gender Body mass Other medical issues
What part of a vaccine stimulates the body’s defence system?
The inactive pathogen
What is the effect of being vaccinated a disease, then catching it?
White blood cells release antibodies quickly
Antibodies destroy the pathogen
Why might a resistant strain of a pathogen spread rapidly?
Antibiotics become ineffective
Resistant pathogens reproduce
Population increases
Why do pathogens make us feel in?
They produce toxins
Cause damage to cells
Other than antibodies how do white blood cells protect against pathogens?
Produce antitoxins
Ingest microorganisms
Why should one wash their hands?
You don’t transfer pathogens
In modern hospitals (other than hygiene) why is there a lower death rate?
Better knowledge
Sterilisation of instruments
Better drugs
Examples of placebos?
Tablet with no drug
Tablet with no effect
Tablet without chemicals
Describe how white blood cells protect from infectious diseases?
They ingest pathogens
Produce antibodies which destroy pathogens
Produce antitoxins which neutralise toxins
Why is it difficult to stop using addictive drugs?
Alters chemical reactions in the body
You would experience withdrawal symptoms
What has the MMR vaccine also protected against?3
Rubella
Mumps
What is a hormone?
A chemical messenger
Produced by a gland
Acting on a tragedy organ
Chemical that controls body functions
What was thalidomide originally developed to treat?
Poor sleeping
Harmful effect of thalidomide?
Limb defects / abnormalities
What happens in the body to make someone addicted to a drug?
Change in chemical processes
Why don’t antibiotics treat viruses?
Because the pathogen lives inside the cell
Three main stages of testing a new drug?
Laboratory tests
Tests for side effects on healthy people
Tests on patients, widespread
Optimum dose found
How can you obtain more accurate results?
Increase maximum and minimum results
Decrease margin between reading
Use more sensitive equipment
How can healthy volunteers are used rather than healthy patients?
Higher risk for patient
Dose too low for patient
Effects may be masked by patients symptoms
How to increase precision?
Use more sensitive equipment
In drugs what variables have to be controlled?
Age Gender Body mass Ethnicity Severity of pain
Upon reinfection why wouldn’t someone catch the disease?
White blood cells
Release antibodies quickly
Antibodies destroy pathogen
Why are drugs tested?
To check they are safe and effective
What are drugs tested for?
Toxicity
Efficacy
Dose
In the laboratory in the early stages of trials, what is tested on?
Cells
Tissues
Live animals
Why would an athlete use stimulants?
Boost bodily functions such as heart rate
Why would an athlete use anabolic steroids?
Which stimulate muscle growth
What happens to someone’s body when they become dependent on a drug?
Drugs alter chemical processes in the body
Person suffers withdrawal symptoms without drug
Why do antibodies ingest pathogens?
To destroy that particular pathogen
What happens when a pathogen enters the body?
Reproduce rapidly inside the body
Bacteria - toxins that make you feel ill
Viruses - live and reproduce inside the cells causing damage
What does thalidomide now?
Cancers
Autoimmune disease
How can drugs be used to increase stamina in sport?
Stimulates their body to make more red blood cells
This means they can carry more oxygen to their muscles
Advantage of population wide vaccination?
Reduces chance of pandemic
Illiminates disease
Reduces spread of disease
What happens in the body to make someone dependent on a drug?
Changes in the chemical processes
What does thalidomide now treat?
Leprosy
Why are drugs trial led?
Side effects Dosage Efficacy Toxicity Interaction with other drugs
What does alcohols do to the body?
Causes liver or brain damage
What does tobacco do?
Causes lung cancer
Why do legal drugs have a great impact than illegal drugs on health?
More readily available
More people use them
Alcohols caused liver damage
Tobacco causes cancer
Why is it difficult for a person to stop taking certain drugs?
They become dependent on the drug
Why do you add a control group to an investigation?
To compare to other areas
To check other factors don’t affect results
What effect do environmental factors have on the direction of growth in the roots of a plant?
They grow downwards
Towards moisture
Towards gravity
What effect do environmental factors have on the direction of growth in the shoots of a plant?
They grow upwards
Towards the light
Against gravity
How can doctors reduce antibiotic resistant bacteria?
Stop using the particular antibiotic
Only use it in serious cases
Why use 40 degrees for industrial growing bacteria?
Microorganisms reproduce faster
Product acquired sooner
Legal recreational drug?
Alcohol
Tobacco
