Barbiturates history

Barbituric acid was first pre pared in 1864 by Adolf von Baeyer (page 112) A histori cal account of his work and the later development of barbiturates as sedative-hypnotics appeared in the October 1951 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education (pp 524-526)... 

Contraindications History of manifest or latent porphyria, marked liver dysfunction, marked respiratory disease in which dyspnea or obstruction is evident, and hypersensitivity to secobarbital or barbiturates... 

Various older agents have an extensive prior history of use as sedative-hypnotics. These include barbiturates and related compounds such as ethclorvynol and ethin-... 

All barbiturates have the potential to be abused and cause addiction. Different barbiturates are designated as schedule II, III, and IV drugs, which means that all barbiturates require a prescription from a doctor or health care provider and the prescription must contain the doctor s DEA number. Physicians must obtain a special license to get a DEA number in order to prescribe controlled or addictive substances such as barbiturates. Doctors are very cautious about prescribing barbiturates to patients who have a history of drug abuse. 

Lopez-Munoz, F., R. Ucha-Udabe, and C. Alamo. The history of barbiturates a century after their clinical introduction. Neuropsych Disease and Treatment 1, no. 4 (2005) 329-343. 

The history of LSD until 1966, when curbs were placed upon further experimentation, can be seen in microcosm in Dr. Hofmann s first two experiences of the drug initially there was keen interest and optimism as the power of LSD came to be understood, there was panic. On die basis of Hofmann s light first experience, Sandoz hoped that it might be marketed generally, like barbiturates and tranquilizers. Sandoz thus distributed LSD at cost to many investigators, trying to find a standard use for it. 

In large doses, injected intravenously, it would bum and hurt horribly, because it s a salt and because it instantly throws off the chemical balance of the blood with which it comes into contact. It makes all muscles lock up in extreme contraction that would hurt unbearably. It wouldn t get to all muscles when a prisoner is being killed with it, however. Since the heart is a muscle and it pumps the blood -- the minute that massive dose of potassium salt hits the heart, one would be history and that would be as far as it would travel. "In lethal injection, three chemicals are used to kill. First, sodium pentothal (its trade name) or thiopental sodium (its chemical name). Then one minute later they inject pavulon. One minute later the potassium chloride. Pentothal is a short acting barbituric acid (barbiturate used in anaesthesia) and is commonly called "truth serum" as it s used in narcoanalysis. It knocks one out. It s a hypnotic. Pavulon is a curare derivative which locks up the lungs so one can t breathe. 

Barbituric acid derivatives, history and applications 88PHA827. Benzodiazepine receptor ligands as drugs 89FES345. Coumarine-based antioxidants 88KFZ1438. 

Acute kidney injury has also been associated with a variety of sedatives and hypnotics including barbiturates, benzodiazepines, glutethimide and dilorpro-mazine [107,108,119]. The acute kidney injury is usually related to rhabdomyolysis but the classical clinical picture of acute interstitial nephritis has been reported in one patient with the use of diazepam, although no renal biopsy was performed [186]. In fhose patients with rhabdomyolysis, multiple seizures often develop prior to the rhabdomyolysis and others are febrile at the time. However, the most common presentation is that of a young person without a prior medical history who presents with coma-stupor of one to several days duration, variable signs of volume depletion, limb compression and follows the typical course of acute tubular necrosis with a high likelihood of renal recovery [107-109]. 

Several classes of pharmacologic agents are available for insomnia. Barbiturates are the oldest agents that have been used for insomnia and include pentobarbital, secobarbital, and amobarbital. Barbiturates are currently not recommended because of their high abuse potential (due to rapid development of tolerance) and lethal potential in overdose situations. Barbiturates potentiate the GABAergic-induced increase in chloride ion conductance at low doses, and at high doses they depress calcium-dependent action potentials. Caution should be exercised in patients with marked renal or liver dysfunction, severe respiratory disease, suicidal tendencies, or history of alcohol/drug abuse. 

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