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Benzodiazepine Misuse
Benzodiazepine use disorder (BUD), also called misuse or abuse, is the use of benzodiazepines without a prescription or for recreational purposes, which poses risks of dependence, withdrawal, and other long-term effects. Benzodiazepines are one of the more common prescription drugs used recreationally. When used recreationally benzodiazepines are usually administered orally but sometimes they are taken intranasally or intravenously. Recreational use produces effects similar to alcohol intoxication. In tests in pentobarbital-trained rhesus monkeys benzodiazepines produced effects similar to barbiturates. In a 1991 study, triazolam had the highest self-administration rate in cocaine-trained baboons, among the five benzodiazepines examined: alprazolam, bromazepam, chlordiazepoxide, lorazepam, triazolam. A 1985 study found that triazolam and temazepam maintained higher rates of self-injection in both human and animal subjects compared to a variety of other benzodiazepines (ot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Addiction Medicine
Addiction medicine is a medical subspecialty that deals with the diagnosis, prevention, evaluation, treatment, and recovery of persons with addiction, of those with substance-related and addictive disorders, and of people who show unhealthy use of substances including alcohol, nicotine, prescription medicine and other illicit and licit drugs. The medical subspecialty often crosses over into other areas, since various aspects of addiction fall within the fields of public health, psychology, social work, mental health counseling, psychiatry, and internal medicine, among others. Incorporated within the specialty are the processes of detoxification, rehabilitation, harm reduction, abstinence-based treatment, individual and group therapies, oversight of halfway houses, treatment of withdrawal-related symptoms, acute intervention, and long term therapies designed to reduce likelihood of relapse. Some specialists, primarily those who also have expertise in family medicine or in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toxicity
Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacteria, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a substructure of the organism, such as a cell (biology), cell (cytotoxicity) or an organ such as the liver (hepatotoxicity). Sometimes the word is more or less synonymous with poison#Poisoning, poisoning in everyday usage. A central concept of toxicology is that the effects of a toxicant are Dose (biochemistry), dose-dependent; even water can lead to water intoxication when taken in too high a dose, whereas for even a very toxic substance such as snake venom there is a dose below which there is no detectable toxic effect. Toxicity is species-specific, making cross-species analysis problematic. Newer paradigms and metrics are evolving to bypass animal testing, while maintaining the concept of toxicity endpoints. Etymology In Ancient G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Depression (mood)
Depression is a mental state of low Mood (psychology), mood and aversion to activity. It affects about 3.5% of the global population, or about 280 million people worldwide, as of 2020. Depression affects a person's thoughts, behavior, feelings, and subjective well-being, sense of well-being. The pleasure or joy that a person gets from certain experiences is reduced, and the afflicted person often experiences a loss of motivation or interest in those activities. People with depression may experience sadness, feelings of dejection or hopelessness, difficulty in thinking and concentration, or a significant change in appetite or time spent sleeping; Suicidal ideation, suicidal thoughts can also be experienced. Depression can have multiple, sometimes overlapping, origins. Depression can be a symptom of some mood disorders, some of which are also commonly called ''depression'', such as major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder and dysthymia. Additionally, depression can be a norm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chlordiazepoxide
Chlordiazepoxide hydrochloride, sold under the brand name Librium is a sedative and hypnotic medication of the benzodiazepine class. It is used to treat anxiety, insomnia and symptoms of withdrawal from alcohol, benzodiazepines, and other drugs. It is also used to discontinue long term use of other, shorter acting benzodiazepines due to its long half life. Chlordiazepoxide has a medium to long half-life, while its active metabolite has a very long half-life. The drug has amnesic, anticonvulsant, anxiolytic, hypnotic, sedative, and skeletal muscle relaxant properties. Chlordiazepoxide was patented in 1958 and approved for medical use in 1960. It was the first benzodiazepine to be synthesized and the discovery of chlordiazepoxide was by pure chance. Chlordiazepoxide and other benzodiazepines were initially accepted with widespread public approval, but were followed with widespread public disapproval and recommendations for more restrictive medical guidelines for its use. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Benzodiazepine Withdrawal Syndrome
Benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome (BZD withdrawal) is the cluster of signs and symptoms that may emerge when a person who has been taking benzodiazepines as prescribed develops a physical dependence on them and then reduces the dose or stops taking them without a safe taper schedule. Typically, benzodiazepine withdrawal is characterized by sleep disturbance, irritability, increased tension and anxiety, depression, panic attacks, hand tremor, shaking, sweating, difficulty with concentration, confusion and cognitive difficulty, memory problems, dry mouth, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite and weight loss, burning sensations and pain in the upper spine, palpitations, headache, nightmares, tinnitus, muscular pain and stiffness, and a host of perceptual changes. More serious symptoms may also occur such as depersonalization, restless legs syndrome, seizures, and suicidal ideation. Benzodiazepine withdrawal can also lead to disturbances in mental function ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Benzodiazepine Dependence
Benzodiazepine dependence (BZD dependence) defines a situation in which one has developed one or more of either tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, drug seeking behaviors, such as continued use despite harmful effects, and maladaptive pattern of substance use, according to the DSM-IV. In the case of benzodiazepine dependence, the continued use seems to be typically associated with the avoidance of unpleasant withdrawal reaction rather than with the pleasurable effects of the drug. Benzodiazepine dependence develops with long-term use, even at low therapeutic doses, often without the described drug seeking behavior and tolerance. Addiction consists of people misusing or craving the drug, not to relieve withdrawal symptoms, but to experience its euphoric or intoxicating effects. It is necessary to distinguish between addiction to and abuse of benzodiazepines, and physical dependence on them. The increased GABA inhibition on the neural systems caused by benzodiazepines is counteracted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drug Tolerance
Drug tolerance or drug insensitivity is a pharmacological concept describing subjects' reduced reaction to a drug following its repeated use. Increasing its dosage may re-amplify the drug's effects; however, this may accelerate tolerance, further reducing the drug's effects. Drug tolerance is indicative of drug use but is not necessarily associated with drug dependence or addiction. The process of tolerance development is reversible (e.g., through a drug holiday) and can involve both physiological factors and psychological factors. One may also develop drug tolerance to side effects, in which case tolerance is a desirable characteristic. A medical intervention that has an objective to increase tolerance (e.g., allergen immunotherapy, in which one is exposed to larger and larger amounts of allergen to decrease one's allergic reactions) is called drug desensitization. The opposite concept to drug tolerance is reverse tolerance, in which case the subject's reaction or effect wil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Physical Dependence
Physical dependence is a physical condition caused by chronic use of a tolerance-forming drug, in which abrupt or gradual drug withdrawal causes unpleasant physical symptoms. Physical dependence can develop from low-dose therapeutic use of certain medications such as benzodiazepines, opioids, stimulants, antiepileptics and antidepressants, as well as the recreational misuse of drugs such as alcohol, opioids and benzodiazepines. The higher the dose used, the greater the duration of use, and the earlier age use began are predictive of worsened physical dependence and thus more severe withdrawal syndromes. Acute withdrawal syndromes can last days, weeks or months. Protracted withdrawal syndrome, also known as post-acute-withdrawal syndrome or "PAWS", is a low-grade continuation of some of the symptoms of acute withdrawal, typically in a remitting-relapsing pattern, often resulting in relapse and prolonged disability of a degree to preclude the possibility of lawful employment. Pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alcohol (drug)
Alcohol, sometimes referred to by the chemical name ethanol, is the active ingredient in alcoholic drinks such as beer, wine, and distilled spirits (hard liquor). Alcohol is a central nervous system (CNS) depressant, decreasing Action potential, electrical activity of neurons in the brain, which causes the characteristic effects of alcohol intoxication ("drunkenness"). Among other effects, alcohol produces euphoria, anxiolytic, decreased anxiety, increased sociability, sedation, and impairment of cognitive, memory, motor control, motor, and sense, sensory function. Alcohol has a variety of adverse effects. Short-term effects of alcohol consumption, Short-term adverse effects include generalized impairment of neurocognitive function, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and symptoms of hangover. Alcohol is addiction, addictive and can result in alcohol use disorder, Substance dependence, dependence, and Alcohol withdrawal syndrome, withdrawal upon cessation. The long-term effects of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sedative
A sedative or tranquilliser is a substance that induces sedation by reducing irritability or Psychomotor agitation, excitement. They are central nervous system (CNS) Depressant, depressants and interact with brain activity, causing its deceleration. Various kinds of sedatives can be distinguished, but the majority of them affect the neurotransmitter Gamma-Aminobutyric acid, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Most sedatives produce relaxing effects by increasing GABA activity. This group is related to hypnotics. The term ''sedative'' describes drugs that serve to calm or Anxiolytic, relieve anxiety, whereas the term ''hypnotic'' describes drugs whose main purpose is to initiate, sustain, or lengthen sleep. Because these two functions frequently overlap, and because drugs in this class generally produce dose-dependent effects (ranging from anxiolysis to loss of consciousness), they are often referred to collectively as ''sedative–hypnotic'' drugs. Terminology There is some overlap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
