biology ( medicine and drugs)

medicine and drugs part 1

developing new medicines;

they are first tested in labs on cells, tissue or organs. if the drug seems to work it is then tested on animals, healthy human voulenteers and finally on patients
placebos: placebos do not conatin a drug. half the patients are given placebos and half are given the drug. this is to check that he drug being tested really does have an effect on the patient.
in a double-blind trial neither the doctor nr the patient know who has the placebo and who ahs the drug
thalidomide was developed as a sleeping pill but doctors realised it could aslo control morning sickness in women. unfortunatly it had not been tesed for use during pregnncy, it caused abnormailites in the babies.
the drug was banned and testing laws improved. more recently it has been used to treat this such as leprosy but never given to pregnant women.

1 of 3

how effective are medicines?

statins are drugs which lower the amount of bad cholesterol in the blood.
they are taken daily by older people.
heart and strokes have gone down by 40%
some people prefer herbal remedies. st johns wort is taken to treat depression instead of Prozac. the only way too see which one is better is to conduct a double-blind trial.

drugs

legal and illegal drugs

2 of 3

does cannabis lead to harder drugs?

there is evidence that cannabis can cause mental illness in people.
teens who smoke cannabis increase their risk of depression.
buying cannabis from dealers puts you into contact with harder drugs that are being sold.
nearly all heroin users previously smoked cannabis.

drugs in sports

some athletes are tempted to use drugs to improve their performance.
steroids are drugs which build up muscle mass. other drugs may increase stamina.
strong pain killers are banned because the athlete may ignore injury and cause further damage.
most think it is unethical to use drugs in sport.

3 of 3