There is no doubt that the study of chemistry has changed the world dramatically. Under the right circumstances, many advances in the realm of chemistry can save lives. The EpiPen® has been a wonderful chemical developed tool, aiding in potentially lethal allergic reactions such as anaphylaxis. It is important to understand what an EpiPen® is, and how it works to one day save a life if necessary. What will further be discussed is what an EpiPen® is, how it is made, used, and how it works chemically in the human body.
The EpiPen® is an auto-injecting pen made with epinephrine. Epinephrine commonly known as adrenaline, is a chemical compound with the formula C9H13NO3. Epinephrine is a sympathomimetic hormone, meaning a hormone that produces physiological effects in the body from the sympathetic nervous system.2 Epinephrine, or adrenaline is naturally produced in the adrenal medulla. Upon its release in the body, causes vasoconstriction or the shrinking of blood vessels, stimulates the heart, and opens up the bronchi in the lungs. Epinephrine is a compound classified as a Catecholamine. A Catecholamine is a monoamine, an organic compound with a catechol and a side
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With just a very quick exposure to an allergen, anaphylaxis can occur immediately. Allergens can be anything from dust, food products such as peanuts, shellfish, nuts, and even insects and sting like bees and wasp stings. Life threatening symptoms of anaphylaxis include dizziness, unconsciousness, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, and fast heart beat. The most serious threat to the human life during anaphylaxis is the lack of oxygen, O2. With lack of O2 the brain begins to lose brain cells. The brain is in control of all the systems in the body as more time passes without O2 organs begin to fail and the heart also stops beating.4 Other symptoms of swelling of the mouth, coughing, hives on the body, vomiting, and
Adrenaline is hormone that is secreted by your adrenal
The Epipen’s shape is cylindrical and fits in a person’s hand. There are two ends to the Epipen, a blue end and an orange end. The blue end is where the safety is located and needs to be pull it off to release the safety. After pulling the blue end off, place the orange end hard into an outer thigh until it clicks and hold there for 10 seconds. That is when the adrenaline will be administered. While it helps people, there are side effects. An article from the RxList written by John P. Cunha (2016) wrote, “Side effects of Epipen include: upset stomach, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, sweating, etc”. However, it is still used by many people presently even with its side
EpiPens are arguably one of the most important devices for those to carry who suffer from life-threatening allergies. The auto-injector pen contains the drug epinephrine, which treats an allergic reaction, anaphylactic shock, in emergency cases. Recently, there has been an uproar among the public about the increasing prices of Mylan’s EpiPens. In 2007, the products cost was around $100.00 for a two-pack of pens. Now, however, the name brand is selling for over $600.00 a pair; resulting, in a 400% price increase. Different companies are now creating similar products in hopes of being more affordable and as efficient as the original EpiPen. Mylan Pharmaceuticals is even creating their own version of an authorized generic form of the EpiPen as well. In the first article, “Mylan Tries Again to Quell Pricing Outrage by Offering Generic Epipen,” by Andrew Pollack, focuses on just Mylan 's version of their EpiPen along with their increasing prices. The second article, “Can You Get a Cheaper EpiPen,” by Ginger Skinner, emphasizes on not only Mylan 's’ product, but also other generic products as well as a do-it-yourself. Both of these articles focus around the idea of an affordable, effective, and accessible off brand version of the EpiPen while also providing important side information about all of the products and risks; however, the second article offers more information about different generic products rather than just
The question of liability in this case is a little unclear. The problem for the DOJ is a letter dated Oct. 23, 1997 from the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program that said:
An anaphylactic reaction (anaphylaxis) is a sudden, severe allergic reaction that affects multiple areas of the body. Affected areas of the body may include the skin, mouth, lungs, heart, or gut (digestive system). Anaphylaxis can be life-threatening. This condition requires immediate medical attention, and sometimes hospitalization.
Anaphylactic shock may show these symptoms , first may start out with just the usually with runny nose and skin rash than within about thirty minutes or so more serious symptom will appear such as coughing ,fainting ,dizziness, weakness ,hives ,rash ,shortness of breath ,trouble swallowing, vomiting ,cramps ,and even a weak pulse. Thought one out of five people have a second anaphylactic reaction within 12 hours. The only way
Everybody has memorable and disheartening days in their life and some make you look at the bigger picture in life and adjust your true values. For me a memory that’s so vivid in my brain it seems like it happened yesterday though it did not. This was the day my grandpa was hospitalized and had later died of a brain aneurysm. He suffered a lot of brain damage in the process because he toke Advil regularly and with that his blood was very thin and that caused a lot of blood to run into his head and around his brain. The thought if he never had taken Advil if he would still be around today is always in my head. From this incident I have made a goal to not use any pain medication unless it is cleared with a medical staff or doctor, this puts me at a small minority with people who I am around. As an athlete a lot of people look to Advil and other over the
The EpiPen company started in 1987 when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved it. In 2006 the EpiPen was developed and sold at a reasonable price until Mylan took over. “The EpiPen changed hands several times, eventually landing at the now-vilified pharmaceutical company Mylan in 2007” (Rimler). After Mylan Company finally had control of the EpiPen, which she bought $34.50 per pen, aimed at getting schools to stock
An epi-pen is typically used when a person has an allergic reaction to a substance or material. An Epi-Pen contains a drug known as epinephrine. Epinephrine is a synthetic version of adrenaline. Allergies stresses the body, consecutively, impeding the person to breath. With adrenaline from the epinephrine the body will have a burst of energy helping the body to process everything rapidly and making the person able to breathe again. In the text “How 12 EpiPens Saves My Life” the author Ali Jafee establishes common ground, uses real life occurrence to establish credibility and appeals to the audience emotions through her ongoing encounters with the Epi-pen for the purpose of delivering a message of how essential epinephrine is for those who have allergies.
Andrew is experiencing anaphylaxis. Anaphylaxis is a hypersensitivity reaction to an allergen; in this case, bee venom. The indicators of this reactions are the immediate local swelling and wheezing experienced, once exposed to allergen. This involves the allergen binding with the IgG and mast cells. This initiates the release of powerful chemicals including histamine. These chemicals are responsible for the symptoms experienced once exposed to allergens. Histamine is initiates the dilating of blood vessels. In turn, the vessels release plasma into tissues, causing edema (swelling).
Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare during the 17th century, demonstrated the idea that other characters were responsible for Macbeth’s downfall. Macbeth, once an honorable and courageous warrior was transformed into a vain and ruthless dictator, who encountered a transformation that brought him not only the crown, but his death as well. This transformation, started by three influencing factors which included: the Three Witches, Lady Macbeth, and Macduff, manipulated Macbeth into committing acts of treason and murder. Although it was Macbeth, who was to blame for his actions, it was because of these three characters who greatly promoted him to complete those crimes.
The adrenal glands are an important part of our endocrine system. They secrete many vital hormones. There is two parts to the adrenals, a cortex and a medulla. The adrenal medulla secretes epinephrine, norepinephrine and dopamine. Epinephrine is about eighty-percent of the activity, norepinephrine is about twenty-percent and dopamine only takes up a small amount. Epinephrine is also known as adrenaline and is involved in the fight or flight response. When a threat or stress is perceived, a signal is sent to the brain. The brain then sends nerve impulses to the adrenal medulla. When the nerve impulses reach the medulla, the chromaffin cells release epinephrine. Epinephrine is then released directly into the blood stream and is carried around the body to cells in the liver, skin, heart and lungs where it initiates several responses in order to help us survive whatever situation we are in. When these
• You may give an injection under your skin or into your muscle on the outer side of your thigh. Do not inject epinephrine into your buttocks or any other part of your body.
A breeze blew, peeping through the openings, of that tumbler window, its fragrance, sparked a path of reminiscences, during which thoughts flew, one when the opposite, unlocking wonders, streaming through my mind.
Addiction and substance abuse is a crime that has plagued the U.S. ever since the early 1900 's and from that point on has been an uphill battle for the U.S. to stop. But even with everything the U.S. has tried nothing that has been done has even made a dent in the drug war. Drugs just continue to hit the very streets that innocent people live on. Today people walk right outside their house and just around the corner, there is some guy that has the ability to sell them drugs. That is why the war on drugs in the U.S. has failed miserably because the number of people and high schoolers that are using drugs is still increasing, drug tests do not do anything to discourage using drugs and almost everyone knows how to cheat the tests, and legalizing drugs, such as marijuana and other low level drugs, would allow the U.S. to have more control over drugs in the end.