Effect of Barbiturates on the Body

Barbiturates depress, or slow down and weaken, the body s activities. Barbiturates effects are stronger in the brain than the rest of the body. Higher and higher doses of barbiturates would slow the brain s functions more and more, while the rest of the body, including muscles and other organs like the heart, would only be affected by very high doses.9 10 11 

In small doses, barbiturates mildly depress brain functions. 

Higher doses of barbiturates lead to more significant depression of brain function, with effects similar to those of alcohol intoxication. Individuals may experience impaired judgement, slurred speech, and poor coordination. The part of the brain that controls these functions becomes affected, making them unsteady and unsafe to operate a motor vehicle. Even higher doses of barbiturates may cause a person to pass out or fall asleep. 

Barbiturates effects generally last only a few hours, however they may produce a hangover effect the day after consumption, leaving the individual depressed, angry, and with poor judgement. They may also have trouble with coordination and still be unable to safely operate a motor vehicle. 

HOW DO DOCTORS DETERMINE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SAFE AND UNSAFE DOSES OF BARBITURATES  

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Effects of the test substance on the central nervous system should be assessed appropriately. Motor activity, behavioral changes, coordination, sensory/ motor reflex responses, analgesia test (hot plate), proconvulsant activity, barbiturate-induced sleeping time, and body temperature should be evaluated. For example, a functional observation battery, modified Irwin s, or other appropriate tests can be used. 

Good relationships between the retention in MLC and some biological activities of local anesthetics (bupivacaine, lidocaine, mepiva-caine, prilocaine, procaine and tetracaine), such as anesthetic potency, concentration of compound that produces an effect similar to a reference concentration of cocaine, duration of the action, toxicity and time taken to eliminate half the drug present in the body, have also b n reported [24]. Some anesthetic actions of barbiturates also correlated well with the retention minimum effective hypnotic dose in rabbits, molar drug concentration necessary to reduce cell division, and molar drug concentration required to reduce 50% the inhibition of oxygen respiration on the brain of a rat in vitro [25],... 

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