PSYC 2800 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Chloral Hydrate, Paraldehyde, Prescription Drug
19 Dec 2016
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Includes prescription drugs that treat anxiety (sedatives) and insomnia (hypnotics) Depressants are drugs that slow activity in the cns. Alcohol is the most widely used depressant. Benzodiazepines are the most widely prescribed depressants. Chloral hydrate: synthesized in 1832, used clinically in 1870. Induces sleep in less than one hour: abuse leads to gastric irritation. Paraldehyde: synthesized in 1829, used clinically in 1882, effective with a wide safety margin, noxious taste and odour (used in psych wards) Bromides: widely used as a sleep agent in patent medicines, appeared in otc drugs through the (cid:1005)9(cid:1010)(cid:1004)"s, can accumulate in the body and cause toxic effects. Discovery/introduction: 1903: barbital (veronal) became the first barbiturate to be used clinically, other popular barbiturates include phenobarbital, amobarbital and secobarbital. Grouped on the basis of the time of onset and duration of activity: low-dose, long-acting forms used for daytime relief of anxiety, higher-dose, shorter-acting forms used to induce sleep.
