B1.3.1 Drugs

Effective, safe, stable, successfully absorbed and excreted from our bodies

To help stop morning sickness

Drugs are tested on human cells and tissues in the lab-->the drug is tested on a live animal-->the drug is tested on human voluteers in a clinical trial

If there is already a drug which works reasonably well against a disease, it would be unethical not to give that to a patient. It also allows us to compare how good the new drug is compared to existing drugs. It can only be done if there is already an active drug available.

There was a lower standard of testing in those days. Extensive testing on pregnant animals was not carried Summary answersout. It wasn’t developed as a drug for morning sickness, but it turned out to have a benefi cial effect and it was assumed that it would be safe

When treating leprosy it was still causing complications for patients that were pregnant. Thalidomide is still used for rare diseases for which there is no other effective treatment. Its use in those countries is carefully controlled and it is never given to pregnant women

Prescribed medical drugs that reduce the levels of cholesterol in the blood and lower the risk of heart and circulatory disease

Because if natural remedies work, they contain chemicals that are drugs, and these can cause problems with sideeffects like any other drug. Natural remedies that do not actually have any chemicals that can help you can still contain chemicals that can be harmful – natural does not mean harmless

People who have traditionally inhabited a region since ancient times

Alcohol and tobacco are legal, but cocaine and heroin are not

‘Addiction’ means that you cannot function properly without a drug and suffer withdrawal symptoms if you are without it

They need more and more to get the same effect

You suffer withdrawal symptoms/feel ill

As medicines or for pleasure makes them feel good, feel they can cope with problems, fi t in with the crowd

Addiction, health problems from drug or lifestyle needed to fund drug, risk of hepatitis and HIV/Aids from lifestyle, etc.

Peer pressure, image, addiction

Caffeine

Because many more people take (and abuse) legal drugs

Multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease and epilepsy

4 times

A drug which makes it easier for an individual to begin taking ‘harder’ more damaging drugs through contact with people dealing with illegal drugs

Because cannabis is seen as a soft drug (which is relatively harmless) and a lot of young people want to smoke it. Because it is illegal to buy cannabis, it puts them in contact with dealers who may well try to introduce them to more expensive, harder drugs which will make the dealer a bigger profi t and that are more powerfully addictive

Anabolic steroids are drugs which help athletes to build extra muscle mass – athletes use them to get extra strength and extra muscles for running, bodybuilding

They are so keen to win at all costs that they feel the benefi ts outweigh the risks and they assume that the drugs will not affect them negatively

• Advantages: the athlete will compete better (run faster and have more stamina), be able to lift heavier weights, etc., and build muscles more easily. They mean the athlete will have to do less work to perform well, which is likely to bring the financial benefits of success, e.g. sponsorship
• Disadvantages: the health risks, the risk of being found out and disqualifi ed, the possible loss of personal satisfaction in achievement

• For: For example, it removes the need to spend large amounts of time and money trying to catch people cheating; it puts all athletes on a level playing fi eld because they can all use performance-enhancing drugs if they want to
• Against: For example, the health risks to athletes, it means wealthy individual athletes or wealthy countries would be able to afford the latest developments and others wouldn’t, questionable value of artifi cially-enhanced performance.

A substance that alters chemical reactions in the body

To lower the risk of heart and circulatory disease

A placebo is a substance that's like the real drug bu doesn't do anything (e.g. a sugar pill instead of a drug). Using a placebo allows the doctors to see the actual difference the drug makes

Heroin, cannibus

Alcohol

Drinking alcohol slows reaction, so a driver might not react to problem quickly enough to stop an accident happening

Increased crime, cost to NHS

Taking steriods can have negative health effects or the competitor may not want to have an unfair advantage over the other competitors

It stunted the growth on fetuses' arms and legs

Leprosy/some cancers

To make sure that it doesn't have any harmful side effects when the body is working normally

A double-blind clinical trial means that neither the patient nor the doctor knows which patients have been given the drug and which the placebo until all the results have been gathered. This so the doctors monitoring the patients and analysing the results aren't subconsciously influenced by their knowledge

Increase heart rate

Increase muscle size

Steroids can cause high blood pressure

Medicinal, recreational or performance-enhancing

Because they can be dangerous if misused

Recreational drugs are used for fun

Medicinal drugs are medically useful, like antibiotics

They can improve a person's performance in sport, however some are banned by law, some are prescription only but all are banned by sporting bodies

• Athletes have the right to make their own decisions about whether taking drugs is worth it or not
• Drug-free sport isn't really fair anyway - different athletes have access to different sporting facilities, coaches, equipment etc.

• It's unfair if people gain an advantage by taking drugs, not just through training
• Athletes may not be fully informed of the serious health risks of the drugs they take

Drugs are tested on human cells, tissues or organs in the lab. However, you can't use human cells/tissues/organs to test drugs that affect multiple/whole body systems e.g/ testing a drug for blood pressure must be done on a whole animal because it has an intact circulatory system

Drugs are tested on live animals if it passes the 1st test. This is to see whether the drugs works, to find out about its toxicity and the best dosage. The law in Britain states that new drugs must be tested on 2 live mammals

If it passes all other tests, it's tested on human volunteers in a clinical trial. First, it's tested on healthy volunteers to make sure that it doesn't have any harmful effects when the body is working normally. At the start of the trial, a low dose is given which is gradually increased. The drugs are then tested on people suffering the illness if the results from testing healthy volunteers are good. The optimum dose is found - most effective and least side effects. To test whether it works, double-blind trials are done

A sleeping pill, but was later found to be effective relieving morning sickness - but hadn't been tested, so babies were born with abnormalties as they didn't realise it would affect child

Disease of the heart, blood vessels and lungs. Tobacco smoke causes cancer. Nicotine makes it hard to stop smoking

It affects nervous system and slows down the body's reactions, excessive alcohol can lead to impaired judgement, poor coordination and unconsciousness. It can also damage liver and brain. Alcohol is addictive

Cannibus

Heart and circulatory problems