Medicine and Drugs

Chapter 23

The Role of MedicinesVocabulary:

Medicines: drugs that are used to treat or prevent disease or other conditions.

Drugs: substances other than food that change the structure or function of the body or mind.

REMEMBER, All medicines are drugs, but not all drugs are medicines

Vaccine: a preparation introduced into the body to stimulate an immune response.

Analgesics: pain relievers.

Vocabulary Pathogens: infectious agents that cause

disease, and stimulate the immune system Immune System: the bodily system that

protects the body from foreign substances Antibodies: produced by the immune

system in response to the presence of a foreign substance, or a pathogen .

Antitoxins: extracts of blood fluids contain antibodies, act more quickly than vaccines

The Role of MedicinesVocabulary:

Side effect: reactions to medicine other than the one intended.

Additive Interaction: medicines work together in a positive way.

Synergistic Effect: an interaction of two or more medicines that result in a greater effect than when the medicines are taken alone.

Antagonistic Interaction: the effect of one medicine is canceled or reduced when taken with another medicine.

Classifications of Medicines Four broad categories:

1. Help prevent disease.2. Fight pathogens, or infectious

agents that cause disease.3. Relieve pain.4. Help maintain or restore health and

regulate the body’s systems.

Medicines That Prevent/Fight (pathogens)Disease

Vaccines. These contain weakened or dead pathogens that stimulate your body to produce specific antibodies against those pathogens. Once the antibodies are produced your body has long-lasting protection from those pathogens.

Antitoxins. These are produced by inoculating an animals immune system to produce certain antibodies. When these are put into humans it neutralizes the effect of toxins.

Pathogen Pathogen: An agent of disease. A disease producer.

The term pathogen most commonly is used to refer to infectious organisms. These include bacteria (such as staph), viruses (such as HIV), and fungi (such as yeast).

Less commonly, pathogen refers to a noninfectious agent of disease such as a chemical.

The term pathogen was devised about 1880 and was compounded from patho- meaning disease + -gen indicating a producer. Hence, a disease producer.

Antibody… the bodies soldiers

antibody

Definition: (AN-tih-BOD-ee) Plural: antibodies (-eez) A type of protein made by certain white blood cells in response to a foreign substance (antigen). Some antibodies destroy antigens directly. Others make it easier for white blood cells to destroy the antigen.

Bacteria vs. Viruses Viruses are the smallest and simplest life form known.

They are 10 to 100 times smaller than bacteria. The biggest difference between viruses and bacteria

is that viruses must have a living host - like a plant or animal - to multiply, while most bacteria can grow on non-living surfaces and can multiply by themselves.

Bacteria are intercellular organisms(i.e. they live in-between cells); whereas viruses are intracellular organisms (they infiltrate the host cell and live inside the cell). They change the host cell's genetic material from its normal function to producing the virus itself.

Bacteria vs. Viruses 99% of all bacteria are helpful. but all viruses are harmful. Antibiotics can kill bacteria but not

viruses. Viruses can't multiply until they are

inside the body's cells. This is the reason why the treatment of virus infections is usually left up to the patient's own immune system,

Bacteria vs. Viruses An example of a disease caused by

bacteria is strep throat, Anthrax, Botulism, Lyme disease, Tuberculosis, Typhoid fever

Viruses: AIDS, Chickenpox, Common cold, Measles, Rabies, Influenza(FLU), West Nile disease

Medicines That Fight Pathogens

Antivirals: developed to treat some viral illnesses. Often these only suppress rather than kill it.

Antifungus: can cure or suppress infections such as athlete’s foot and ringworm.

Medicines That Relieve Pain

Most common are analgesics. Range from mild medicines such

as aspirins to strong narcotics such as the opium-based morphine and codeine.

Medicines That Promote Health

Allergy Medicines. Many people rely on antihistamines and other medications to reduce symptoms of allergies.

Body-regulating Medicines. Regulate body chemistry. Insulin, inhaler, and cardiovascular medicines are examples.

Antidepressant and Antipsychotic Medicines. Help to regulate brain chemistry

Cancer Treatment Medicine. Reduce rapid growth of cells and helps to stop the spread of cancer cells.

Medicines and the Body A person’s reaction to medicine

depends on how the medicine mixes with chemicals in his/her body. Additive Interaction. Both medicines

work together in a positive way. Synergistic Effect. Two or more

medications result in a greater affect than when the medicines are taken alone.

Antagonistic Interaction. The effect of one medication is canceled by another.

Problems to Medicines Tolerance. The body becomes used to the

effect of a medicine. The body then requires increasingly larger doses of the medicine to produce the same effect.

Withdrawal. When a person stops using a medicine on which he/she has a chemical dependence it can lead to nervousness, insomnia, headaches, vomiting, chills, cramps… Withdrawal sometimes requires medical intervention.

Medicine Safety All medicines must reach the standards set

by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration). Part of these standards include the amount released to the public. Prescription Medicines. Available only by

means of a doctor’s written instructions and can be dispensed only by a licensed pharmacist.

Over-The-Counter (OTC) Medicines. Includes a wide variety of medicines that you can buy without a prescription.

Medicine Misuse Failing to follow instructions Giving a prescription medicine to a

person whom it was not prescribed to or taking another person’s medicine.

Taking too much or too little of a medicine or taking a medicine for longer or less than prescribed.

Discontinuing use of a medicine without informing the health care professional.

Mixing medicines.

Drug Use-A High Risk BehaviorVocabulary:

Substance Abuse: any unnecessary or improper use of chemical substances for nonmedical purposes.

Illegal Drugs: chemical substances that people of any age may not lawfully manufacture, possess, buy, or sell.

Illicit Drug Use: the use or sale of any substance that is illegal or otherwise not permitted.

Overdose: a strong, sometimes fatal reaction to taking a large amount of a drug.

Drug Use-A High Risk BehaviorVocabulary:

Psychological Dependence: a condition in which a person believes that a drug is needed in order to feel good or to function normally.

Physiological Dependence: a condition in which the user has a chemical need for the drug.

Addiction: a physiological or psychological dependence on a drug.

Factors That Influence Decisions About Drugs

Peer Pressure the influence that people your age may have on you. Teens whose friends and acquaintances avoid drug use can say no to drugs more easily than teens whose friends accept and encourage drug use.

Family Members help teens to resist drugs. Role Models people you admire and want to imitate. Media Messages influence your impression of drug

use. Perceptions of a society’s drug behavior are often

inaccurate.

Health Consequences of Drug Use

Physical Consequences: Once the drug enters the bloodstream it can harm

the users brain, heart, lungs, and other vital organs.

Overdose Mental/Emotional Consequences:

Drugs cloud reasoning and thinking, users often lose control of their behaviors.

Social Consequences: Can cause a negative affect on relationships with

family and friends.

Health Consequences Drugs are involved directly or

indirectly in many teen suicides Suicide is the third leading cause

of death amount high school students

Understanding the Addiction Cycle

Tolerance-the body of the substance abuser needs more of the drug to get the same effect.

Psychological dependence-the user has a continuing desire to take the drug for its effect.

Physiological dependence-a person who experiences severe withdrawal when they stop taking the drug.

Addiction-causes persistent, compulsive use of a substance known by the user to be harmful.

Addiction becomes hard to stop without professional help

Consequences

Affects all aspects of health, Mental/emotional, Physical and Social. People often lose control of themselves

which often leads to violence. Substance abuse often results in violent

crimes, suicide, and either intentional or unintentional death.

Drug users are at a greater risk of engaging in sexual activity leading to unwanted pregnancy or STDs.

ILLEGAL! Teens possessing, manufacturing, or selling drugs are committing a crime. Being arrested leads to court fines, suspension from school, jail time, and probation.

Consequences Drug abuse cost the nation’s economy

about $160 billion a year due to lost work, lack of productivity, jail time, accidents, life and health insurance, and law enforcement costs, legal fees, drug-related damage, injuries and death…Whew!!!

Physical, mental/emotional, social and legal consequences are all preventable by…

Choosing a drug-free lifestyle

Marijuana, Inhalants, and SteroidsVocabulary:

Marijuana: a plant whose leaves, buds, and flowers are usually smoked for their intoxicating effects.

Paranoia: an irrational suspiciousness or distrust of others.

Inhalants: substances whose fumes are sniffed and inhaled to achieve a mind-altering effect.

Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids: synthetic substances that are similar to the male sex hormone testosterone.

Health Risks of Marijuana Vary from person to person and can be

influences by an individual’s mood and surroundings. In all cases it does bring serious health risks, such as:

Hallucinations and paranoia Decreased initiation Bloodshot eyes Weight gain Lung irritation Heart and lung damage Changed hormone levels, affecting normal body

development in teens Much more…

Inhalants Go immediately to the brain causing brain

damage and killing cells that can never be replaced.

Inhalants include: Solvents ─Aerosols ─Spray Paints Gasoline ─Nitrates ─Nitrous Oxide

Extremely dangerous, many are labeled as poisons.

Not designed to be taken into the body so they cause permanent nervous system and brain damage.

Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids

Steroids can cause mood swings-impaired judgment resulting from feelings of invincibility-and paranoia.

Unless prescribed by a physician all steroids are dangerous.

Although it increases strength the tendons and ligaments don’t get stronger, leading to major injuries.

Nonmedical use of steroids is ILLEGAL

Psychoactive Drugs Vocabulary:

Psychoactive Drugs: chemicals that affect the central nervous system and alter activity in the brain.

Stimulants: drugs that speed up the central nervous system.

Euphoria: a feeling of intense well-being or elation.

Depressants: sedatives, drugs that tend to slow the central nervous system.

Psychoactive Drugs Vocabulary:

Narcotics: specific drugs that are obtainable only by prescription and are used to relieve pain.

Hallucinogens: drugs that alter moods, thoughts, and sense perceptions including vision, hearing, smell, and touch.

Designer Drugs: synthetic substances meant to imitate the effects of hallucinogens and other dangerous drugs.

Classification of Psychoactive Drugs

Four main groups of psychoactive drugs: Stimulants Depressants Narcotics Hallucinogens

When these drugs are misused or abused a person’s health and the proper function of all body systems are seriously affected.

Health Risks of Stimulants Cocaine. Highly addictive and interrupts the

normal functioning of the central nervous system. Crack. More dangerous form of cocaine because

instantly enters the brain and causes heart rate and blood pressure to soar to dangerous levels. Many die from cardiac and respiratory failure.

Amphetamines. Reduce fatigue and drowsiness, and suppresses appetite. The easily developed tolerance causes a user to ingest more of the substance.

Methamphetamine. Or meth, may provide a short-term feeling euphoria. Results in depression, paranoia, damage to the central nervous system, increased heart rate and blood pressure, damage to brain cells, and death.

Health Risks of Depressants

Barbiturates. Induce sleepiness, but can result in mood changes, sleeping more than normal, and coma. Combined with alcohol it becomes lethal.

Tranquilizers. Reduce muscular activity, coordination, and attention span, but often leads to physiological and psychological dependence with sever withdrawal symptoms.

Rohypnol. 10X as strong as tranquilizers, often used in date-rape crimes.

GHB. The drug leaves the blood quickly making it difficult to determine if an overdose has occurred.

Narcotics Relieve pain by blocking the pain

messengers in the brain. Abuse of narcotics can cause addiction, breathing convulsions, coma, and death.

Opium, Morphine, Codeine &.. Heroin. Highly addictive depresses the

central nervous system and slows breathing and pulse rate. Can cause infection of the heart valves and lining. Withdrawal is very painful.

Hallucinogens PCP. Considered one of the most dangerous drugs

of all, distorts sense of time and space, increased muscle strength, and inability to feel pain. Overdose causes death.

LSD. Extremely strong hallucinogen, that causes hallucinations distorted perceptions, convulsions, coma, heart and lung failure, and death.

Ecstasy: a designer drug, known as MDMA is a combination stimulant & hallucinogen short-term euphoria but can cause, confusion, depression etc.

Ketamine. An anesthetic, mostly used to treat animals, that is often smoked with marijuana or tobacco. Often results in death by respiratory failure.

Living Drug FreeVocabulary:

Drug-Free School Zones: areas within 1,000 feet of schools and designated by signs, within which people caught selling drugs receive especially severe penalties.

Drug Watchers: organized community efforts by neighborhood residents to patrol, monitor, report, and otherwise try to stop drug deals and drug abuse.

Resisting Pressure to Use Drugs, learn to say “NO!”

The first step to staying drug free is to make a firm and deliberate decision.

Be fully committed to refusing drugs before they are offered.

Practice refusal skills to honor your commitment to remain drug free.

Consider all the harmful affects of drug use and all the benefits of a drug-free lifestyle.

Becoming Drug Free Identify specific sources of help in your

community-drug counselors, treatment centers, and support groups.

Talk to the person when he or she is sober. Express your affection and concern for the person, and describe his or her behavior without being judgmental.

Listen to the person’s response. Be prepared for anger and denial.

Offer to go with your friend or family member to a counselor or support group.

Treatment Centers Types of drug treatment center:

Outpatient Drug-Free Treatment. Include medications and individual or group counseling.

Short-Term Treatment. These centers can include residential, medication, and outpatient therapies.

Maintenance Therapy. Intended for heroin addicts, this treatment usually includes medication therapy.

Therapeutic Communications. Residences for people with a long history of drug abuse. Include highly structured programs that usually last from 6-12 months.