Central Nervous System drugs Flashcards
depressants are medicines that include sedatives, tranquilizers, and hypnotics. These drugs can slow brain activity, making them useful for treating anxiety, panic, acute stress reactions, and sleep disorders.
Central Nervous System drugs
Benzodiazepine drugs
- Alprazolam
- diazepam
- lorazepam
- midazolam
- temazepam
- oxazepam
Uses of diazepam
Anxiety, preop sedation, muscle relaxation, withdrawal states
Uses of alprazolam
Anxiety, phobias, panic attacks
a state of emotional reliance upon a drugs in order to maintain a state of well-being. Tolerance, if it does occur, is of the “metabolic” type so there are no withdrawal symptoms
Psychological dependence
Amphetamines stimulant:
Mechanism of action:
increase norepi and dopamine
What is a CNS depressant?
What does it produce?
an agent which decreases the excitability of tissue in CNS
- produces sedation, hypnosis, general anesthesia, coma, death
- all drugs in this category can act as sedatives, hypnotics, or general anesthetics - depending upon dose given
What is a major reason to us barbiturates over benzodiazepines?
Epilepsy
Reason for Seizures
Trauma, idiopathic, infection, toxins & metabolic factors
Used to prevent seizures
Anticonvulsant Drugs
To suppress the abnormal electrical impulses from the seizure area of the brain to other areas
Anticonvulsant Drug Physiology
How CNS drugs produce effects
Precise mechanism versus plausible hypotheses:
Knowledge of the brain and spinal cord is limited
Sufficient data to make hypotheses: use of current evidence and remembrance that mechanisms are tentative
3 types of xanthine stimulants
- caffeine - coffee beans, tea leaves, kola nuts
- theophylline - tea leaves
- theobromine - cocoa
15 kinds of Barbiturates sedative hypnotics depressants. How do they differ?
- SPEED in which effects occur
- DURATION of action (absorbed in the bloodstream at the same rate, usually, but enter BRAIN at different rates)
- All may be taken orally
Sedative hypnotics may be classified as?
Barbiturates or non-barbiturates
What is a general anesthetic?
a drug that causes loss of consciousness (not arousable)
Two types of general anesthetics are?
inhalation and intravenous (I.V.)
what is epilepsies?
abnormal activity in spots of the brain
What is Parkinson’s disease?
a neurological disorder of CNS; loss of dopamine neurons
- occurs later in life (after age 50) due to deterioration of cells in brain
- one million people in the U.S. have
Drugs used in Parkinson’s disease
Levodopa, tolcapone, selegiline, bromocriptine, benztropine, amantadine
