Drugs and Medicine

explanatory Essay

954 words

As our understanding of the chemical basis for biology has grown, we have learned more about how molecules which constitute life. Many scientists are beginning to understand the connections between the physical and psychological matters and the molecules that cause them. As a result, we can now use these new understandings of medicine against any dangerous or unpleasant conditions. For example, depression can be treated with drugs that can revive the brain to its normal level. Many medicines and drugs can change someone's physical and mental conditions, which can improve the risk of sickness and/or death. Proof of how medicine has improved is the fact that the average person today lives about 20 years longer compared to someone living during the beginning of the century. Although drugs have its benefits, they an also have severe addictive and destructive power. Antibiotics- The most prescribed medicines in the United States are the antibiotics, drugs that fight infectious diseases like diphtheria, tuberculosis, cholera, and pneumonia. These diseases are cause by bacteria, which reproduce within the human body. Antibiotics work by attacking the microorganisms and selectively killing each of them. Before antibiotics were available, bacterial infections and similar diseases were among the top causes of death in the United States. Today, many of these diseases have been completely cleared out of its existence from developed nations. Unfortunately, bacterial diseases still claim many lives in Third World countries where antibiotics are less available and conditions are poor. Antibiotics are classified onto several different categories. Some of the most common are penicillin, cephalosporins, and tetracylines. The penicillins were discovered in 1982 by Sir Alexander Fleming, a bacteriologist at the University of London. Penicillin is a fungus that Sir Alexander Fleming discovered after he came back from his vacation. It was not until 13 years later that penicillin was used on humans. This discovery has saved many lives, but as time progressed scientist discovered that there was still some bacteria that were resistant to penicillin. Antiviral Drugs- in contrast to bacteria, viruses require the machinery of a host cell to reproduce. A virus, which usually consists of only DNA and protein, takes over a host cell and inserts its own DNA into the chromosomes of the host. This virus uses the host cell to produce more viruses. The new viruses infect other host cells and the cycle repeats. Viruses unfortunately do not respond to antibiotics.

In this essay, the author

Explains that scientists are beginning to understand the connections between physical and psychological matters and the molecules that cause them. they can now use these new understandings of medicine against dangerous or unpleasant conditions.
Explains that many medicines and drugs can change someone's physical and mental conditions, which can improve the risk of sickness and/or death.
Explains that antibiotics fight infectious diseases like diphtheria, tuberculosis, cholera, and pneumonia.
Explains that antibiotics are classified into several different categories, such as penicillin, cephalosporins, and tetracylines.
Explains that unlike bacteria, viruses require the machinery of a host cell to reproduce. a virus inserts its own dna into the chromosomes of the host to produce more viruses.
Explains that until recently, the only way to fight viruses was to prevent them through vaccination. a vaccination consists of introducing a small number of inactivated viruses into the body.
Explains that sexual characteristics are managed by molecules called hormones, chemical messengers that act on target cells usually located a long distance from where the hormone are secreted.
Explains that female sex hormones are called estrogen and progesterone and are secreted primarily by the ovaries.
Explains that the urge for sex has become a big issue in america. birth control pills and condoms have been used for many years, but have not completely prevented any of these problems.
Explains that sexual hormones are part of a larger class of compounds called steroids, characterized by their 17-carbon-atom, four-ring skeletal structure.
Explains that adrenocortical steroids are used for potent anti-inflammatory effects, while anabolic steroids, are synthetic analogs of testosterone, the male sex hormone.
Explains that 40% of americans develop cancer in their lifetime and about 1 in 5 die from it. cancer is a difficult disease to combat because cancer cells are modified form of human cells.
Explains that chemotherapy is the administration of drugs, either singly or in combination, over an extended period of time.
Explains that depressants, also known as tranquilizers or downers, dull the central nervous system. the amount of depression depends on the dose of the drug.
Explains that heavy drinkers increase the risk of heart disease, cirrhosis of the liver, respiratory diseases, and cancer. drinking while pregnant can result in birth defects in the newborn infant.
Explains that inhalants are drugs used for anesthesia, as well as those abused for a temporary high. they work by dissolving in nerve membranes and altering their function to depress nerve impulses.
Explains that narcotics are drugs that act on the central nervous system to produce an analgesic and sedutive effect. they differ from depressants in that they have a greater ability to reduce pain.

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