4.13 Flashcards
Vega, Lucas
What is the name of the chemical found in Foxgloves?
Digitalis
William Withering created an effective treatment for?
Heart Failure
A patient went to Withering for help , when he couldnt offer any aid , the patient went to a wise woman who cured her with…
A soup with herbs
Withering bought the recipe off the wise woman for how much?
A goat and three shillings
What was digitalis used as for centuries?
As a poison
What diseases can digitalis cure?
Dropsy and heart failure
Why are the leaves of the foxgloves boiled before putting them in the soup?
In order to reduce the effect of the drug and have the right dose
When Withering tested his different potions ( using Foxglove which was an ingredient of the wise womans soup) on the 163 patients to develop a drug , what happened to the patients?
Most were cured , few were poisoned and died.
He discovered that the side effects included nausea , vomiting and worse…
He used it to find the right dosage.
What are double blind trials?
A trial where neither the researchers nor the patients know what they are getting.
Patients beliefs wont affect the results and the researchers cant be biased.
What animals are normally used when testing medicines and why?
Mice and Rats are the most common because the genetic make-up of the strains is well known and they are small and quite easy to be kept in humane conditions
What are the disadvantages of animal testing?
very expensive
time-consuming
ethical debate
What is the placebo effect?
when patients appear to respond to a drug simply because it is doing them good
What is a placebo?
an inactive substance that looks like a drug being trialled but has no active ingredient
What happens in phase 1 trials?
a new drug (or placebo) are given to a small number of healthy volunteers - to check that the drug works and has no side-effects
What happens in phase 2 trials?
the drug is used with patients affected by the target disease (normally 100-500 volunteers)
