Thalidomide

Multiple myeloma is a type of cancer that is formed by malignant plasma cells. To explain what a plasma cell is, let’s start by talking about lymphocytes. Lymphocytes are one of the main types of cells that make up the immune system. A lymphocyte further differentiates into B cells and T cells. B cells mature and transform into plasma cells. This type of cell makes antibodies (immunoglobulins) that respond to infection by attacking and killing germs. Unlike lymphocytes that are found in many…

The two most important themes related to health in American women 's lives between the late 1800 's and early 1900 's are contraception and abortion. Both contraception and abortion would be a turning point for individual rights as well as medicine. Before the institution of medicine accepted birth control and abortion, women in general were regarded as housewives, child bearers and most served the local communities as midwives and healers to the sick. Even though midwives were highly regarded…

from human beings, but they make poor models for human beings. Our anatomy is very different than that of a mouse or rabbit. Many drugs have passed animal tests but are not necessarily safe for humans. In the 1950s there was a sleeping pill called thalidomide which had been tested on animals before it’s release. This pill had caused 10,000 babies to be born with deformities. This shows that animal testing could be potentially dangerous to us because of our different anatomies. There was another…

very cruel but also the testing they do can be very costly. Not only are they costly but the chemicals used are not always the best solution for these test. Drugs that are passed that are used on animals are not always safe. Thalidomide, which is a sleeping pill, was used on pregnant mice, pigs, and…

There is no way to indicate that infants might have a birth defect or other health problems. By understanding common infant health conditions and ways to prevent them may decrease the risk of having a baby born with medical issues. Birth defects usually cannot be discovered until after birth. This is why it is so important for mothers’ to really take in account that they need to take care of themselves while pregnant. In some occasions you can discover infants medical conditions prenatally. In…

Several teratogens display a contribution to the development of autism in the fetus through prenatal maternal exposure (Dufour-Rainfray, et al., 2011). The introduction of valproic acid, ethanol, thalidomide, and misprostol as early as the 18th day of pregnancy increases the proportion of autism development in studies. These toxic substances, which come form the environment, each have a different effect on the genes of the fetus, but remain consistent…

With Gordon taking such a high dose of diazepam, it seems reasonable to conclude that she had developed some tolerance to the drug. Tolerance is defined by the National Institute on Drug Addiction as a state in which an organism no longer responds to a drug, or alternatively as requiring a higher dose to achieve the same initial response level (NIDA, 2007). Tolerance to benzodiazepines tend to develop at varying rates and degrees, and not all forms of tolerance have negative outcomes. For…

Animals have been used to aid biomedical research for centuries. Greek physician-scientists, such as Aristotle, (384 – 322 BC) and Erasistratus, (304 – 258 BC), performed experiments on living animals. An Arab physician in twelfth century Spain, Ibn Zuhr, introduced animal testing as an experimental method for testing surgical procedures before applying them to human patients (Hajar). Recently, however, the science and medical community has come under fire for these experiments. Many have…

PHARMACEUTICAL CARE Pharmaceutical care: Pharmaceutical care is a professional service provided to patients delivered by qualified, registered and trained pharmacist in clinical, community and hospital settings. The main aim of Pharmaceutical care is ensure the best standards of practice while using medicines and health care to achieve the optimized predetermined safety and efficacy goals. Historical background of Pharmaceutical care The emergence of pharmaceutical care begins in 1960s in USA…

large-scale manufacturing of drugs, which was only more propelled by the government’s desire to treat certain conditions widespread in the population and to alleviate the injuries of the world wars. Unfortunately, it wasn’t until the problem of thalidomide and adverse side effects that modern regulations and limits to production were placed [4]. Contrarily, the rise of bioelectronic medicine represents more immediate innovation than pharmaceuticals, relying on technology still considered novel…