DRUGS Flashcards
What do drugs do?
Drugs alter what goes on in your body. Your body is a mass of chemical reactions and drugs change your body chemistry.
What are the three broad categories of drugs?
Medicinal, recreational or performance enhancing.
How does someone get addicted to a drug?
This is due to the chemical changes caused by drugs which can lead to the body becoming addicted to the drug.
If the drug isn’t taken an addict can suffer WITHDRAWAL SYMTOMS and some of these are very unpleasant
Give an example of a medicinal, recreational and performance enhancing drug
Medicinal = antibiotics or ritalin or paracetamol - ometimes these require a prescription but not always
Recreational = cocaine, cannabis, alchohol and tobacco (most of these are illegal but some are legal)
Performance enhancing - steroids (increase muscle mass), ephedrine (increase stamina) - these improve performance in sport
What health and ethical impacts are associated with perfromance enhancing drugs?
Steroids can increasse muscle mass and improve sporting performance but they have lots of negative side effects such as high blood pressure, baldness and infertility.
Some performance enhancing drugs are banned by law and others are ony available by prescription.
What are the ethical arguments for using perfromance enhancing drugs?
Arguments for:
Athletes have the right to make up their own mind about whether they want to risk their health.
Drug free sport isn’t really fair as different athlestes have access to different training facilities, coaches, equipment.
Some athleses will cheat and take these drugs and this will give them an unfair advantage
What are the arguments against using performance enhancing drugs?
Arguments against:
It’s unfair if people gain an unnatural advantage through drugs and not just through training.
Athletes may not be fully informed of the serious risks to their health.
Athlese act as role models and as such younger people will think it is also ok to take performance enhancing drugs and they are unlikley to be well informed of the risks.
Should you believe everything you read about drugs?
No, claims about drugs must be carefully looked at and critically assessed.
STATINS are prescribed drugs that lower the risk of heart and circulatory disease. This was researched by the gorvernment who had no connection with the manufacturer.
6000 patients studied and compared two groups of patients those who took STATINS and those who didn’t.
Research showed claims were true.
Is the claims that Cannabis causes mental health problems correct?
There has been some scientific research into whether chgemicals in cannabis smoke cause mental health problems but the results vary and are open to different interpretations.
Until there is more definite scientific evidence no one can be sure of whether it does or it doesn’t.
What are the three main stages of drug testing?
The drug is tested on:
- human cells and tissue in the lab
- live animals
- human volunteers
Explain in more detail stage 1 of drug testing.
This is where drugs are tested on human cells and tissues in the lab.
However, this will not work where the drug is designed to effect the whole or multiple body systems (improving blood circulation) and you need a live animal for this.
Explain in more detail stage 2 of drug testing.
This is where the drug is tested on live animals to see if the drug WORKS and to find out about its TOXICITY (how harmful it is) and what DOSEAGE is the most effective and safe to use the drug.
IN Britain the drug must be tested on two different live mammals. Some people say this is cruel and others say it is necessary.
Explain in more detail stage 3 of drug testing
This is where the drug is tested on human volunteers in a clinical trial.
- First it is tested on healthy humans to ensure there are no harmful side effects when the body is working normally. It starts with avery low dosage and this is slowly increased.
- If tests are good the drug is tested on people suffering from the illness so that the optimum dose is found (most effective with least number of side effects).
- To test the drug, patients are divided into 2 GROUPS. One group is given the new drug and the other group are giong a PLACEBO (sugar pill). This allows the doctor to see the actual difference that the drug makes to the human.
- Clinical trials are BLIND - patient doesn’t know whether they are getting the drug or the placebo. Sometimes it is DOUBLE BLIND (doctor nor patient know which is the placebo and which is the actual drug).
What is the advantage of a double blind study?
This is good because neother the doctor nor the patient knows which is the real drug and which is the placebo. As such the doctors monitoring and analysing the results aren’t subconciously influenced by their knowledge.
What was Thalidomide originally developed for?
It was developed and tested as a seeping pill.
