Drug Therapy - The Biologicl Approach

Question 1

What are the aims of drug therapy?

Answer 1

• to manipulate a patients bodily processes, with the goal of reducing the symptoms of their mental health disorder
• e.g schizophrenia, depression and anxiety

Question 2

What are the main components of drug therapy?

Answer 2

• antipsychotic drugs
• antidepressant drugs
• antianxiety drugs

Question 3

Antipsychotic drugs

Answer 3

• used to treat psychotic mental disorders like schizophrenia
• the cause of schizophrenia is high levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine
• two types of antipsychotics - which are conventional and atypical
• conventional treat the positive symptoms of schizophrenia (delusions and hallucinations) caused by high levels of dopamine
• they block the dopamine from binding to dopamine receptors therefore reducing activity
• atypical treats the positive and negative symptoms (lack of motivation) of schizophrenia
• done by temporarily binding to dopamine receptors then dissociating.

Question 4

Antidepressants

Answer 4

• to treat depression
• depression is due to insufficient levels of serotonin in the nerve synapse.
• SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) are used to treat depression
  -SSRI’s bind onto the pre synaptic neuron so that serotonin can’t be reabsorbed
• this increases serotonin in the synapse, prolonging the activity which is received by the post synaptic neuron

Question 5

Antianxiety drugs

Answer 5

• commonly used to treat anxiety and stress
• cause of anxiety is low levels of GABA and high levels of adrenaline and noradrenaline
• one type is benzodiazepines (BZ’s) which slows down the activity of the central nervous system by enhancing GABA (a substance that’s the body’s natural form of anxiety relief)
• the CNS controls most functions of the body
• another type is beta blockers which reduces adrenaline which slows the body’s heart rate and blood pressure
• BB’s bind to the receptor on the cells of the heart and other body parts are stimulated making the person feel calm

Question 6

Effectiveness of drug therapy points

Answer 6

• drugs versus placebo
• side effects
  -comparisons to other therapies

Question 7

Research to support

Answer 7

S- there’s research to support that the effectiveness of of a drug is superior to that of a placebo. Randomised trials are taken for a drug to compare the effectiveness
E- khan et al followed patients over 8 weeks and found that Bzs were were more effective than a placebo. However many research’s like khan are conducted over a short duration of 3 to 4 months
E- nonetheless, the duration of drugs is more effective than placebos
W- therefore drugs are still superior to placebos as in comparison they have an instantaneous impact whilst a placebo ranges across patients

Question 8

Side effects

Answer 8

S - a weakness of drug therapy is the side effects that come with it
E- for example, soomro et al found that nausea, headache and insomnia are common side effects of SSRIs though tricyclic antidepressants are worse and are used in cases were SSRIs don’t work
E - although these may not seem terrible, the often cases of these are enough to make a person want to stop.
W- therefore drug therapy will eventually discourage people from taking their drugs meaning it can be effective if people drop out

Question 9

Comparison to other treatments

Answer 9

S- a strength is that compared to other therapies it’s the best as it’s cheap for patients in the UK because it’s cheaper for the NHS to prescribe and deliver on mass compared to taking therapy
E- for example, psychotherapy may require a high amount of sessions and is extremely expensive.
E- whereas in drug therapy the practitioner invests less time in the patient because they only need to meet with the patient every couple of months for initial consultation to discuss the effect of the drugs
W- this is therefore more effective as its efficient economical for both the patient and the NHS as well was socially more effective for the practitioner as it’s easier to administer compared to other forms of therapy.

Question 10

Conclusion for the effectiveness

Answer 10

• overall it could be deemed as ineffective because the results of treatments aren’t long term and it has high drop out rates
• however it will remain the most effective therapy as it’s currently the preferred method in the UK

Question 11

Ethical issues of drug therapy points

Answer 11

• use of placebo
• patient information

Question 12

Use of placebo

Answer 12

S- a weakness is the issue of studying the effectiveness of drugs
E- for example, a randomised control trail will consist of patients either taking the real drug or the placebo
E- however a fundamental research ethic is that no patient should be given a treatment known to be inferior. If effective treatments exist, then they should be used as the control condition when new treatments are being tested
W- this is therefore a weakness because substituting a placebo for an effective treatment doesn’t satisfy its duty as it exposes the patient to treatments inferior.

Question 13

Patient information

Answer 13

S- one weakness is the issue of valid consent or lack of it
E- for example, many patients will find it difficult to remember the potential side effects of the drug prescribed or simply won’t be able in the right frame of mind to digest such information
E- this suggests that valid consent can be perceived as an illusion for the patient
- this is a weakness as lack of valid consent overides the general legal and ethical principle that must be obtained before treatment as well as dismissing the right of the patient to determine what happens to their body