Pharmacology Lab Report

These medications have evolved and changed due to availability in the past few years. Cost has also had an impact on what medications are available to a dying patient. A patient self-administers an oral liquid suspension or a powdered mixed with a soft food such as applesauce. The mix of medications include barbiturates, chloral hydrate, and morphine which are compounded into a single dose prescription to facilitate death. Premedication is required prior to taking this final dose. The most common barbiturates are phenobarbital, pentobarbital or secobarbital. Phenobarbital is the longest acting and is typically used for seizures. Pentobarbital and secobarbital are used to sedate prior to surgery and are not as long acting as phenobarbital. Barbiturates effect the central nervous system. They are classified by their how long they take to effect and their duration of action. Barbiturates increase GABA (gaba amino-butyric acid) neurotransmissions in the brain. The increase in GABA causes drowsiness. They are highly addictive, and patients may become tolerant. The addiction is not an issue when a patient has reached this stage and does not need to be a concern. More importantly, if they have used them during the disease process as a sleep aid the patient may have built a tolerance and would require a higher dosage to be effective. Barbiturates do not provide pain relief, to provide pain relief a patient would need to reach a dose high enough to cause a comatose state. Chloral hydrate is a sleep aid or tranquilizer prior to surgery. This medication is quick

Rascati KL; Richards KM; Johnsrud MT; Mann TA. (2009). Effects of antiepileptic drug substitutions on epileptic events requiring acute care. pharmacotherapy.

Choosing an appropriate antiepileptic drug is the key to successful medical management of epilepsy in children. The choice of antiepileptic drug depends on several factors, of which the most important is accurate seizure classification. The other factors used to choose an appropriate antiepileptic drug include the side effect profile of the drug, The available age- and patient-appropriate preparations of the drug, Whether therapeutic levels are needed quickly or not (depending on the frequency and severity of the patient’s seizures), and the patient’s comorbidities.

There are many current drugs and therapies for seizure illnesses. One example of these drugs is, carbamazepine (epitol). Epitol, according to webmd.com, works in the sense of

Status epilepticus are seizures lasting >20 minutes, or repeated seizures without regaining consciousness [71]. Physicians should be particularly careful with it, since the background may be other than epilepsy. Infection, haemorrhage, trauma, hypoxia, ischemic or haemorrhagic stroke, hypoglycaemia, hyponatremia, drug toxicity and alcohol withdraw should be ruled out. In any of the above, the provoking cause should be treated. If the cause is epilepsy, the treatment of choice is benzodiazepines and the second choice is phenytoin/ fosphenytoin, but with caution as rapid infusion may induce cardiovascular problems. For resistance in those two drugs, the Neurocritical Care Society’s Status Epilepticus Guideline

There is a logical comparison between seizure disorders and bipolar disorder that is thought to explain the effectiveness of anticonvulsants on both disorders. An interesting anticonvulsant effect can be observed with the administration of lomotrigine (trade name Lamictal) which has stabilizing effects for both depressive and manic states while also providing therapeutic effects on depression (Stahl, 2013. p. 373). Many anticonvulsants are much more effective in the treatment of epilepsy but select drugs can be effectively employed to balance the cycling or reduce the intensity and length of

In the psychiatric world the use of sedatives, seclusion, and restraints may be helpful in the moment, but later can have some harmful outcomes that affect the psychological, emotional, and physical well being of the patient. Sedatives are drugs that slow down the physical and mental characteristics of one's body. Many times sedatives are referred to as tranquilizers. Sedatives are only available by prescription and many times are used for medical reasons. Sedatives have been known to be used to help treat pain, anxiety, panic attacks, and insomnia. The drugs work by intensifying the amount of neurotransmitter-gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). The neurotransmitters help to control the rate at which nerve impulses travel. Sedatives have also been

Haloperidol is a butyrophenone derivative with antipsychotic properties that has been considered especially compelling in the administration of hyperactivity, agitation, and mania. Haloperidol is a compelling neuroleptic furthermore has antiemetic properties; it has a marked tendency to provoke extrapyramidal impacts and has relatively weak alpha-adrenolytic properties. It might likewise show hypothermic and anorexiant impacts and potentiate the activity of barbiturates, general soporifics, and different CNS depressant medications.

Carbamazepine is one of the well-known drugs to treat first and secondary epilepsy. It has been used in clinical practice since mid-1960. Carbamazepine is very effective and according to a research, no current drug in trials that have efficacy in curing the seizures as the carbamazepine does. The drug is well indulged with the patient body although some patient might have some rashes when first treatment using carbamazepine is used. If the rash was developed, the treatment should be stopped immediately as there is a risk to develop Steven-Johnson syndrome. Steven-Johnson syndrome is a rare condition that cause by reaction of the body with certain kind of medicine. There were several drugs that can induce this condition and carbamazepine is

There must be special attention toward the patient's addiction history before these agents are prescribed. An understanding of the toxicity and side effects of benzodiazepines, abuse patterns and alternative anxiolytic and hypnotic agents may help clinicians to be safe from issues of medico legal case.

Pregabalin, trade name Lyrica, approved for its anticonvulsant properties and to relieve pain in those who suffer from diabetic neuropathy. The chemical structure of pregabalin is structurally analogous to γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), an inhibitory neurotransmitter found in the central nervous system and functions by binding to α2δ voltage-gated calcium ion channel in presynaptic, inhibiting the release of neurotransmitters, most notably GABA. By decreasing the amount of the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA in synaptic terminals, epileptic seizures can be controlled and prevented.1

Unlike the kindling model, the kainate model does not require specialist equipment, nor is it hugely expensive. Although animals require monitoring after induction of SE, which kindled animals do not, the initial time to induce Stage V seizures is minimal compared to the weeks of stimulation involved in kindling. However, kindled animals can have immediate seizures once stimulated, convenient for those performing the study, whereas there is a time delay in chemoconvulsant induced epilepsy which is impossible to predict. Seizure severity and frequency can also be highly variable, however this is not necessarily a disadvantage as human epilepsy is also variable. The kainate model draws several parallels with the pathophysiology of human epilepsy; neuronal loss, mossy fibre sprouting and most importantly the process of epileptogenesis (insult, latent period and spontaneous seizure

Adult male Wistar rats 5 weeks older were received methylscopolamine (1 mg/kg) subcutaneously (CavalheiroTurski 1983,85), after 30 min animals received intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of pilocarpine (340-350 mg/kg) to induce status epilepticus (SE) (Wozny et al., 2005). To compare the effect of vehicles, in place of pilocarpine injection animals received 0.9 % NaCl. An animal considered in status epilepticus (SE) if the seizing state remain continued after 3 consecutive seizure within 10 min time duration. SE was stopped after 90 min with the injection of diazepam (i.p. 10 mg/kg). To allow rapid recovery and to avoid weight loss animal were injected with lactate ringer solution. All animals were kept under a 12 h light/dark cycle, freely

Bufo toxin has been shown to mimic or exhibit similar action as other known convulsant agent. Its biochemical components are formed as a result of the binding of bufo-fagin and a molecule arginina. There exist wide array of convulsant agents used in the screening of anti-convulsant agents. This new testing convulsant agent (bufo toxin) is inexpensive, affordable and easy to use when compared to other known convulsant agents. The experimental procedure is easy and it gives a broad spectrum in comparing the action of bufo toxin to other chemical convulsant agents (Arome and Amarachi,

Epilepsy is one of these disorders which are becoming a major concern of child health. Currently anti epileptic drugs is the only major method of treatment adopted in our country. There is tremendous need to look for non-invasive treatment options for these disorders to improve the patient