РефератыИностранный языкDrDrug Dependence Essay Research Paper Drug Dependence

Drug Dependence Essay Research Paper Drug Dependence

Drug Dependence Essay, Research Paper


Drug Dependence


In order for a chemical to be considered a drug it must have the capacity to


affect how the body works–to be biologically active. No substance that has the


power to do this is completely safe, and drugs are approved only after they


demonstrate that they are relatively safe when used as directed, and when the


benefits outweigh their risks. Thus, some very dangerous drugs are approved


because they are necessary to treat serious illness. Digitalis, which causes the


heart muscle to contract, is a dangerous drug, but doctors are permitted to use


it because it is vital for treating patients whose heart muscle is weak. A drug


as potent as digitalis would not be approved to treat such minor ailments as


temporary fatigue because the risks outweigh the benefits.


Many persons suffer ill effects from drugs even though they take the drug


exactly as directed by the doctor or the label. The human population, unlike a


colony of ants or bees, contains a great variety of genetic variation. Drugs are


tested on at most a few thousand people. When that same drug is taken by


millions, some people may not respond in a predictable way to the drug. A person


who has a so-called idiosyncratic response to a particular sed

ative, for example,


may become excited rather than relaxed. Others may be hypersensitive, or


extremely sensitive, to certain drugs, suffering reactions that resemble


allergies.


A patient may also acquire a tolerance for a certain drug. This means that


ever-larger doses are necessary to produce the desired therapeutic effect.


Tolerance may lead to habituation, in which the person becomes so dependent upon


the drug that he or she becomes addicted to it. Addiction causes severe


psychological and physical disturbances when the drug is taken away. Morphine,


cocaine, and Benzedrine are common habit-forming drugs. Finally, drugs often


have unwanted side effects. These usually cause only minor discomfort such as a


skin rash, headache, or drowsiness. Certain drugs, however, can produce serious,


even life-threatening adverse reactions. For example, the drug Thalidomide was


once called one of the safest sedatives ever developed, but thousands of women


in the United Kingdom who took it during pregnancy gave birth to seriously


deformed babies. Other adverse reactions stem from mixing drugs. Thus, taking


aspirin, which has blood-thinning qualities, for a headache can be very harmful


if one is also taking other blood-thinning drugs such as heparin or dicumarol.

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Название реферата: Drug Dependence Essay Research Paper Drug Dependence

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