B1.3 The use and abuse of drugs

Drugs
1. Extensively tested and trialled
  1. Tested in the lab
    1. 1st stage: cells, tissues
    2. 2nd stage: live animals
    3. Clinical trials
      1. 3rd stage: healthy volunteers
        Low dosage at start
        Slowly increased
        Test for side effects
      2. 4th stage: patients with the illness
        Optimum dosage found
        Least side effects
        5th stage: blind clinical trials- patients split into two groups
        One group given the real drug, another given a placebo
        Allows for placebo effect
        Patient expects drug to work so feels better, even if the 'drug' is doing nothing
        Placebo
        Substance like the drug being tested but doesn't do anything
        Sometimes trials are double blind
        Patient nor doctor knows which is the placebo
  2. For toxicity, efficacy and dose
Thalidomide
1. Intended as a sleeping pill
  1. Found effective against morning sickness
    1. Has not been tested on pregnant women
      1. Many babies born with severe limb abnormalities
        Drug banned
2. Resulted in more rigorous drug testing
3. Now used to treat other diseases
  1. Leprosy
Legal and illegal drugs
1. Medicinal
  1. Some require prescription
    1. Morphine
    2. Some do not
      1. Paracetamol
    3. Statins
      1. Lower risk of heart and circulatory diseases
        Also lower blood cholesterol
        And risk of heart disease in diabetic patients
2. Recreational
  1. Used for fun
    1. Legal
      1. Alcohol
        Slows reactions
        Liver disease
        Brain damage
      2. Nicotine
        Cancer
        Addiction
        Disease of heart and lungs
    2. Illegal
      1. Ecstasy
      2. Cannabis
        Can cause mental health problems
        Considered a gateway drug
      3. Heroin
        All three can cause heart and circulatory problems
      4. Addictive
3. Performance enhancing
  1. Improve an athlete's performance in sport
    1. Anabolic steroids
      1. Increase muscle size
      2. Can lead to high blood pressure
    2. Stimulants
      1. Increase heart rate
    3. Arguments against
      1. Unfair
      2. Athletes may not have been informed about the risks
    4. Arguments for
      1. Athletes can make their own decisions
      2. Sport is not fair anyway, different training facilities etc
  2. Some illegal, some prescribed
  3. All banned from sporting bodies
4. The overall impact of legal drugs is
  1. Much greater than the impact of illegal drugs
    1. More people use them
  2. Have negative effects on economy and society
Effects of drugs
1. Change body chemistry
  1. Results in
    1. Becoming addicted
2. If addicts do not take the drug they have
  1. Withdrawal symptoms

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B1.3 The use and abuse of drugs

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	Created by ELeanor Turner almost 8 years ago