首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
VALIUM In the 1960s, Valium was launched around the world as the new miracle pill. It was prescribed for dozens of ailments,
VALIUM In the 1960s, Valium was launched around the world as the new miracle pill. It was prescribed for dozens of ailments,
admin
2011-02-08
38
问题
VALIUM
In the 1960s, Valium was launched around the world as the new miracle pill. It was prescribed for dozens of ailments, including stress, panic attacks, back pain, insomnia and calming patients before and after surgery. Four decades later, many are questioning why the drug is still so popular, given that doctors and drug addiction workers believe Valium, and drugs like it, create more health problems than they solve.
Valium-a Latin word meaning "strong and well"-was developed in the early 1960s in the United States (US) by Dr. Leo Sternbach, a Polish chemist working for pharmaceutical giant Hoffman-LaRoche. Approved for use in 1963, Valium quickly became a favourite among mental heath professionals and general practitioners. Valium was the most prescribed drug in the US between 1969 and 1982. At the peak of Valium use in the 1970s, Hoffman LaRoche’s parent company, the Roche Group, was selling about two billion Valium pills a year, earning the company $US 600 million a year. Valium quickly became a household name, the drug of choice for millions of people, from the rich and famous to the stressed executive and the frustrated housewife.
These days Valium is still a popular choice. From 2002-2003, 50% of prescriptions for diazepams (the generic name for Valium) in Australia were for Valium. Almost two million scripts were issued for diazepam in 2002, costing consumers and governments more than $13 million.
Diazepams belong to a class of drugs known as benzodiazepines, which include tranquillizers to ease anxiety and hypnotics to treat insomnia. Valium and other benzodiazepines were marketed as fast acting, non-addictive and as having no side effects. Initially benzodiazepines were considered to be quite safe, especially compared to other drugs on the market. For example, barbiturates were also very toxic and a small overdose would be fatal.
One of the great advantages of benzodiazepines over their predecessors was that even if the patient took many tablets, they would get very sick and go off to sleep, but they wouldn’t die. It seemed too good to be true. And of course it was.
Some doctors began to observe alarming facts about benzodiazepines which weren’t well known during the 1960s and the 1970s, and which are still true today. They were addictive, even in small doses; they could be safely prescribed for only a very short period; and the body adapted to the drug within a week, which usually led the user to take higher dosages or an increased number of tablets.
In addition to this, what wasn’t well known until the early 1980s is that a much larger group of people had become dependent on these benzodiazepines, including Valium, by taking the normal dose. Although they were only taking 2 mg three times a day, doctors observed that within a week they were becoming dependent. Moreover, they were becoming very ill if that dose was reduced or withdrawn.
Because the withdrawal from benzodiazepines is brutal, doctors continue to prescribe the medication for fear of the patient’s health during withdrawal. Doctors believe that there is no point in refusing to prescribe the drug until the patient is prepared to stop. Valium has a long half-life, which means that it takes 30-plus hours for the body to get rid of half of the daily dose. As a result, withdrawals from Valium are just as difficult as withdrawals from other drugs, including alcohol. Patients who are withdrawing can have fits for five or six days after they have stopped taking Valium, which is one of the big Asks. It usually takes the body five to seven days to detoxify from alcohol and less than a month for heroin compared to withdrawal from Valium which can take up to six months.
Many doctors believe that Valium gives people false hope and argue that while many patients feel better when they initially begin taking the drug, the feelings are short-lived. In the case of benzodiazepines they should only be taken as part of an overall examination of the patient’s lifestyle.
Guidelines have been developed to support the appropriate use by doctors and patients of Valium and other benzodiazepines. Doctors need to talk about what is causing the stress and suggest possible alternative treatment options. The flip side of the coin is that consumers need to take ownership of the medicines that they are taking. They should talk to their doctor about the impact the medication has on their health. This also helps doctors to help manage their patient’s health. The emergence of concerns over the use of Valium, originally hailed as the wonder drug of its day, is a warning for us all to be cautious about the newer drugs. What it all boils down to is that doctors and patients need to monitor the use of all medicines-this includes prescription medicine as welt as over-the-counter medications.
(Source: The Weekend Australian, Saturday 26 July 2003, "Anxious and Addicted" by Clare Pirani. Copyright." used with permission.)
*
选项
答案
(false) hope
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/aOVO777K
本试题收录于:
雅思阅读题库雅思(IELTS)分类
0
雅思阅读
雅思(IELTS)
相关试题推荐
Johnisbuildingacircularfencearoundhiscircularpool.Thepoolis26feetindiameter.IfJohnwantstohave2feetofspa
When5consecutiveoddintegers,eachgreaterthan34areadded,whatisthesmallestpossiblesum?
Johnisbuildingacircularfencearoundhiscircularpool.Thepoolis26feetindiameter.IfJohnwantstohave2feetofspa
Thenumber0.001ishowmanytimesgreaterthanthenumber(0.0001)2?
Thefigureaboverepresentsarectangulargardenwithawalkwayaroundit.Thegardenis18feetlongand12feetwide.Thewalk
PERCENTOFTHE300PEOPLEINGROUP1ANDTHE400PEOPLEINGROUP2WHOHAVESELECTEDAILMENTSForthesevenai
Asequenceissymmetricallydistributedarounditsarithmeticmeanm,andthenumbersthatfallinthestandarddeviationdcoun
Theprocessofnuclearfission______requirestheuseofareactorcore,aroundwhichnolithiumblanketofsufficient______hasb
Aroundtheworld,thebicycleisafavoritemethodoftransportation,especiallyLineinChina.Withitslargeurbanpopulation
随机试题
为提高菌血症血培养阳性率,抽血时间最好选择在
色素性化妆品皮炎主要是由化妆品中的
社会中有各种规范,包括道德、宗教、习惯、政策、法律等。与其他社会规范相比,法具有自己的特点,下列关于法的特点的说法中不正确的是()
案例三【背景资料】某公司承接一项供热管线工程,全长1800m,直径DN400mm,采用高密度聚乙烯外护管聚氨酯泡沫塑料预制保温管,其结构如图3所示;其中340m管段依次下穿城市主干路、机械加工厂,穿越段地层主要为粉土和粉质黏土,有地下水
某企业每年所需的原材料为2500件,每次订货需要花费差旅费100元、运输费150元,在存货储存过程中存货会发生破损,每件破损成本为2元,同时每件存货占用资金的应计利息为3元,不考虑其它变动储存成本和变动订货成本,则该企业原材料的经济订货量为()件。
根据下列材料,按要求完成任务。材料一《普通高中课程标准(实验)》的内容标准:根据生产、生活中的应用实例或通过实验探究,了解钠、铝、铁、铜等金属及其重要化合物的主要性质,能列举合金材料的重要应用。材料二“铁的重要化合物”内容属于高中化学必修阶段的
为了响应低碳办公的号召,决定减少会议材料用纸。一次会议召开需要三种材料,第一种材料两人共用一份,第二种材料三人共用一份,第三种材料四人共用一份,一共需要65份材料,问参加会议的有多少人?()
哺乳动物的上颚使其在进食时能够呼吸。很明显,在进食时呼吸对保持哺乳动物的高速新陈代谢是必要的?哺乳动物的下述哪种表现,最有可能削弱上述作者的断言?
当产品A的价格下降,产品B的需求曲线向右移动,这应归结为()。
因为(3+sinxcosx)′=cos2x,[*]
最新回复
(
0
)