Barbiturates Flashcards
Anxiolytic
Reducing anxiety or tranquilizing
Sedative
Calming, relaxing, or sleep inducing
Hypnotic
Sleep inducing or sopoforic
soporific
tending to induce drowsiness or sleep
Normal anxiety is a
survival response leading to activation of the
sympathetic nervous system for fight-or-flight response to danger
Anxiety is the
anticipation of potential danger
anxiety is the Subjective unsettling feelings of
concern or worry
Physiological responses of anxiety including
sympathetic activation
anxiety range
Ranges from vague discomfort to intense sense of terror
Acute anxiety in response to stressors can be
beneficial
Moderate anxiety for exams drives
studying
Anxiety for public speaking prompts
thorough preparation
Chronic or excessive anxiety can cause
deterioration of performance and
distracting preoccupation with the agitation associated with anxiety
Sympathetic effects of stress and anxiety
increased muscle tension, digestive problems, sleep disturbance
Escalating anxiety
cycle due to performance decrease and fear of failure (driving further
anxiety)
Anxiety has high comorbidity with depressive disorders and substance abuse 59%
of patients with major depressive disorder have a co-morbid anxiety disorder
Anxiety has high comorbidity with depressive disorders and substance abuse 20%
of patients anxiety/mood disorder patients have a comorbid substance abuse
disorder (esp. alcohol)
Rates of alcohol abuse highest with
social anxiety disorders
GENERALIZED ANXIETY
DISORDER (GAD)
Symptoms of anxiety without identifiable cause
GAD Persistent anxiety most of
each day for prolonged periods (weeks/months)
GAD Constant
worry, predicting, anticipating, or imagining failure or
disastrous events
physical symptoms of GAD (5)
muscle tension and agitation leading to
poor concentration, irritability, and sleep disturbances
PANIC ATTACKS / PANIC
DISORDER
Experiencing physiological effects of fear reactions without
threatening stimulus
PANIC ATTACKS / PANIC
DISORDER Accompanied by strong
sympathetic NS activation
PANIC ATTACKS / PANIC
DISORDER Accompanied by strong sympathetic NS activation
Increased heart rate, chest pain
* Sweating
* Shortness of breath, faintness
* Choking
* Fear of losing control or dying
Panic attack in response to a
cue can lead to phobia
Susceptibility for un-cued panic attacks leads to
panic disorder
Early anxiolytic and sedative hypnotic
drugs
alcohol & Bromides
Contemporary anxiolytic and sedative
hypnotics
- Barbiturates
- Benzodiazepines
Bromide toxicity
Bromides are sedative possibly through effects on Clbalance in the CNS
Bromides were the first effective
anticonvulsant
Bromides have the side effect of
decreased libido which coincidentally supported the prevailing notion (at the time) that epilepsy was caused by masturbation
- Bromide has a half-life of
~8-12 days making dosing
difficult and intoxication problematic
Bromism results from
bromide toxicity
Bromism results from bromide toxicity (5)
- Impaired thought and memory
- Drowsiness, dizziness
- Irritability, emotional disturbances
- Repulsive skin eruption (rash)
- Bromide psychosis (delirium, delusions, vivid
hallucinations, mania, lethargy, and coma)
Barbital was the first
psychoactive barbiturate synthesized in 1903 and marketed as
Veronal
Barbital found to have
relaxing and sopoforic effects
Barbital Long half-life meant
drowsiness extended for days
Phenobarbital was developed in 1912 and was noted to be
faster acting, of shorter duration, and having excellent anticonvulsant properties
Barbiturates can be classed
according to the
relative
lipophilicity of the compound.
Increasing the lipophilicity of
barbiturates results in
n faster
uptake into the brain and more
rapid sedation
Effects of barbiturates low doses
Anxiolytic and
tranquilizing at low
doses
Effects of barbiturates moderate doses
Sedating and sopoforic
effects of barbiturate’s at high doses
Anesthetic at high doses
Ultrashort-acting barbiturates are
anaesthetic
Ultrashort-acting barbiturates are
anaesthetic - Highly
lipophilic