Drugs Flashcards
(30 cards)
What are scientists continually developing?
New drugs
Once a new medicine is devised, what do they have to be before they are used?
Extensively tested and trialled
Drugs are tested in a series of stages to find out if they are…
Safe and effective
What are new drugs extensively tested for?
Toxicity, efficacy, and dose
Where are drugs first tested? On what?
In the lab, on tissues and live animals
Why are drugs tested on tissues and live animals?
As they are models to predict how drugs may behave in humans
What’s the second stage of drug testing?
Clinical trials on healthy volunteers and patients
At the start of a clinical trial, what is the drug given in?
Very low doses
If a drug is found to be safe after a clinical trial, what’s the next step?
Carry out further clinical trials to find the optimum dose for the drug
What’s a double blind trial?
Where some patients are given a placebo, and neither the doctor nor the patient knows who’s received the real drug until the trial is complete
What do statins lower the risk of?
Heart and circulatory diseases
What was Thalidomide developed as?
A sleeping pill
What was Thalidomide found to be effective at relieving?
Morning sickness in pregnant women
What had Thalidomide not been tested for?
Use in pregnant women
What were many of the babies from mothers who took Thalidomide born with?
Severe limb abnormalities
After Thalidomide was found to cause limb abnormalities in babies, what happened to it?
It was banned
What has become more rigorous since the banning of Thalidomide?
Drug testing
What has Thalidomide more recently been used to treat successfully?
Leprosy and other diseases
What may the misuse of illegal recreational drugs ecstasy, cannabis and heroin have adverse effects on?
Heart and circulatory system
What is cannabis?
An illegal drug
What may the chemicals in cannabis smoke cause?
Mental illness
Why is the overall impact of legal drugs on health far greater than the impact of illegal drugs?
Far more people use legal drugs
What can drugs change in peoples bodies?
Chemical processes
What happens when peoples’ chemical processes in their body change?
They become addicted/ dependent to the drug and suffer withdrawal symptoms
