PS268 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Barbiturate
Document Summary
There are numerous chemicals that depress the activity of the nervous system, but the ones that first achieved widespread clinical use were the barbiturates. Here"s a fu(cid:374) story for you a(cid:271)out the history of (cid:271)ar(cid:271)iturates how they got their name. Those who work with explosives, on one hand, might have trouble getting to sleep at night, so perhaps he was trying to cleverly brand his new chemical. On the other hand, how many awkward scientists do you know who would probably thi(cid:374)k that (cid:374)a(cid:373)i(cid:374)g their (cid:374)ew (cid:272)he(cid:373)i(cid:272)al after a waitress (cid:373)ight i(cid:373)press her e(cid:374)ough to . Barbiturates today still have important roles as sedatives especially in surgery. One of the most stiriking features of each baributrate is how long its produces sedatio sometimes bery briefly, sometimes for hours. These differeing time course have important clinical value.
