Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
10 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
What is toxicology? |
The study of noxious effects of chemical substances on living systems including animals, plants, trees, environment etc. |
|
|
What was hemlock used for in toxicological history? |
Causes ascending paralysis by causing repiratory muscles to stop working whilst conscious. |
|
|
What was white arsenic used for in toxicological history? |
Common political poison in europe Colourless, water soluble, odourless thus easily slipped into food - Can cause the same effects as cholera. Either acute toxicity if given in one large dose or chronic if given in several smaller doses. |
|
|
What is the difference between a poison and a medicine? |
Everything has the potential to be poisonous. It is the correct dose which distinguishes between a poison and a remedy. There is a very small therapeutic window - once out this window- causes toxic effects. |
|
|
What are professional poisoners and what did they do? |
Trialed poisions on ill individuals to see the side effects then noted: 1. Potency 2. Rapidity of response 3. Site and specificity of action 4. Clinical symptoms This was said to be the first clinical trials - equivalent to modern day phase 1 trials |
|
|
What is present day toxicology? |
Explosion of knowledge of toxicological mechanisms e.g. Asbestos leading to lung cancer Still confusion, fear and ignorance about drug safety Can help to make predictions e.g. Assuming something has the same effect on rats as it does on humans. |
|
|
What are dioxins? |
Chemicals known to cause toxicity e.g. Hepatocellular carcinoma causes liver cancer |
|
|
What are xenobiotics? |
Foreign compounds in the body e.g. Drugs. Can be absorbed through various routes e.g. .Gi tract, wounds, skin, rectum. Hydrophillic compounds easily excreted in urine. Hydrophobic compounds (liophillic) dissolve into the membrane, thus to be excreted in the urine they are dealt with by metabolising them from the phobic - phillic state. |
|
|
What does metabolism lead to? |
Ultimate leads to the drug becoming more polar by the addition of a molecule. An increase in molecular size and weight and a change in structure due to an additional molecule. Excretion in the body in the urine, faeces, sweat or bile? |
|
|
What are the consequences of metabolism? |
1/2 life is shortened thus exposure to the xenobiotic is reduced as well as a reduction in the accumulation. There is a change in the duration of biological activity. |
