The study of chemical substances on living organisms and practice of diagnosing and treating exposure to toxins and toxicants.
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OED
Nature, effects and detection of posions
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Poison
Substance that when introduced into or absorbed by a living organism may destroy life or injure health.
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Clinical setting of Drugs
Overdose, cause of death, drug support units, drug intervention programs and screening
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Deliberate Self Poisoning
Almost half will involve alcohol. Main purpose of testing is to rule in or out the presence of a drug contributing to altered state of consciousness.
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Problems with diagnosing overdoses
Hard to measure the blood drug level, few drugs follow straightforwrd kinetics, toxic effects are related to lack of habituation, little background information provided, street drugs are be lethal
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Checks from the Drug Support Units
Integrity of sample (time, temp ect.), veracity of patient, trust between doctors and patients.
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Problems for Drug Intervention Programs
Politicised demands, staff are not clinical staff, appropriate monitoring, funding.
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Screening
Drug addicts will try to beat the system. Testing can lead to false results, reporting thresholds sensitivity, medico-legal morass (children involvement), informed consent and confidentiality
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Analytical Techniques
A method that is used to determine the concentrations of chemical compound or chemical element.
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Bioassays
Based on characteristic smell, individual variation in nose sensitivity. Seldom valid.
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Physical - Microscopic Observation
Presence of characteristic crystals
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Classical Analytical Chemistry
Can not be used for screening. Usually only of value when the identity of a poison is suspected but then indispensable.
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Thin Layer Chromatography
Old fashioned, replaced. Takes less than an hour, identify several hundred drugs in a urine sample. Hard to distinguish between therapeutic and toxic amounts of a drug.
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Group Immunoassays
Identify groups of drugs in blood/urine samples. Sentistive, automated, quantification. Tests drug abuse, but not between legal and illegal members of drug groups.
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Specific Immunoassays
Sensitive, measure concentrations in blood. Used in therapeutic drug monitoring, Can detect innocent amounts.
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HPLC
Quantification of a specific drugs, used in hospital. Not capable to identify an unknown substance.
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GC and MS
GC for alcohols. Extraction conditions are important. Will not detect non-extracted drugs or drugs not containing nitrogen and phosphorus. Precise identification.. Sensitivity varies but can quantify.
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Choice of Technique
What question; subject group; prevalence of drug use; material available; sensitivity; speed; cost; false results
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No right answers
Illicit drugs present; high prevalence of drug use in subject; is it an overdose; is the subject dead
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Other cards in this set
Card 2
Front
Nature, effects and detection of posions
Back
OED
Card 3
Front
Substance that when introduced into or absorbed by a living organism may destroy life or injure health.
Back
Card 4
Front
Overdose, cause of death, drug support units, drug intervention programs and screening
Back
Card 5
Front
Almost half will involve alcohol. Main purpose of testing is to rule in or out the presence of a drug contributing to altered state of consciousness.
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