Thalidomide Research Paper

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Recommended: Important events in medical history and their relationship to modern medicine

Thalidomide Thalidomide is a sleeping sedative (The First Appearance Of Thalidomide, n.d.). The drug was “similar to barbiturates with relatively low known toxicity in adults (Breaking News Thalidomide, n.d.)”. Thalidomide was marketed as safe for pregnant women, who used it to combat morning sickness (The First Appearance Of Thalidomide, n.d.). The drug was developed by West German Pharmaceutical Company, Chemie Grünenthal GmbH, because the company wanted to expand the antibiotics it produced (The First Appearance Of Thalidomide, n.d.). “It was an inclusive anti-convulsive drug” (The First Appearance Of Thalidomide, n.d.). Thalidomide is absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract and metabolized through a no enzymatic pathway, undergoing spontaneous …show more content…

Brought to Life: Exploring the History of Medicine. n.d.):
In 1964 a leprosy patient at Jerusalem’s Hadassah University Hospital was given thalidomide when other tranquilizers and painkillers failed. The Israeli doctor Jacob Sheskin noticed the drug also reduced other leprosy symptoms. Research into thalidomide’s effects on leprosy resulted in a 1967 World Health Organization (WHO) clinical trial. Positive results saw thalidomide used against leprosy in many developing countries. It is also used successfully to control some AIDS-related conditions, and its effects on various cancers are under investigation.
The treatment of skin lesions caused by leprosy (erythema nodosum leprosum) and multiple myeloma is approved by the FDA (Thalidomide, n.d.). Thalidomide has also shown promise in treating inflammatory diseases that affect skin, HIV-related mouth and throat ulcers, and different cancers. “Now, decades later, thalidomide is being used to treat a skin condition… It's being investigated as a treatment for many other disorders (Thalidomide, n.d.)”. The drug has since been renewed, while blood clots are the main side effect. There is still a risk of thalidomide births because unlicensed drugs such as thalidomide is sold on black markets (Science Museum. Brought to Life: Exploring the History of Medicine. n.d.). Many people with leprosy are at risk if they are exposed to unlicensed

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