What are barbiturates? What diseases is it used to treat? Do compound drugs have side effects?
What are barbiturates? What diseases will it be used to treat?
It was reported that the controlled drug “barbiturate” was found in kindergarten children, causing Taiwanese people to pay attention to the safety and exposure risks of controlled drugs. Xu Youshan, chairman of the New Taipei City Pharmacists Association, said in an interview with “healthorn” that barbiturate drugs on the market can be divided into two categories. One of them is single-prescription barbiturate drugs, which are classified as controlled drugs and are used in communities and hospitals. Clinics are under strict control and must be dispensed by pharmacists with a doctor’s prescription.
Chairman Xu Youshan explained that barbiturates, whose main functions are sedation and hypnosis, are an older generation of central nervous system depressant drugs. In the past 40 years, they have been replaced by a new generation of drugs with fewer side effects and better effects. Currently, it is mostly used for a few indications such as surgical induction of anesthesia and epilepsy. Inbarbiturates can reduce the patient’s stress, and are also effective in treating asthma, upper respiratory tract diseases, and gastrointestinal discomforts such as irritable bowel syndrome that require relaxation of the trachea.
The Taiwan Food and Drug Administration recently announced that there are 15 compound drug licenses containing barbiturates. Chairman Xu Youshan said that the number of prescriptions for this type of barbiturate-containing compound drugs is very limited, and parasympathetic drugs are the most common. Whether it is single-prescription barbiturates in Category III (third-level controlled drugs) or Category IV (fourth-level controlled drugs), or compound drugs containing phenobarbital, they can only be obtained with a doctor’s prescription. The proportion is very low, and the chance of exposure to the general public is quite small.
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Can children exposed to barbiturates become addicted? Will withdrawal symptoms affect your mood?
The kindergarten incident has triggered concerns among Taiwanese that children exposed to barbiturates may become addicted and may even develop symptoms such as restlessness. Chairman Xu Youshan pointed out that if withdrawal problems occur during barbiturate medication, it may indeed affect mood. Since barbiturates are mainly used for the treatment of epilepsy, if barbiturate residues are detected, it must be investigated whether the child or family relatives have been exposed to the drug due to relevant medical history, or the spoons and cups during the feeding process have not been cleaned, resulting in trace amounts of barbiturate. appropriate residues, and further investigate the source of drug exposure.
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Chairman Xu Youshan said that barbiturates are central nervous system depressant drugs, and medical staff will be careful in dosage control and safety. The safety of barbiturates in Taiwan has been well controlled for many years, and there have been no reports of any cause for them over the years. In cases of life-threatening injuries caused by improper dosage, the health insurance database also records the prescription dosages of all Taiwanese people. As for compound drugs, they have clear indications. Patients should take the drugs according to the instructions of doctors and pharmacists to ensure drug safety.
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Does Barbiturate Complex Have Side Effects? If you have any questions about medication, please consult a professional pharmacist
“See a doctor for medical treatment and a pharmacist for medication. If you have any medication problems, whether you go to a clinic or a community pharmacy, the pharmacist will provide you with correct medication and health education information. You don’t have to worry about the side effects of the medicine you take just because of news reports!”
Chairman Xu Youshan pointed out that there is no over-medication of barbiturates in Taiwan, and for controlled drugs prescribed for epilepsy, specialists monitor the dosage according to the degree of abnormal brain discharge in patients. As for compound drugs, such as soothing drugs used to treat irritable bowel syndrome, because they act on the parasympathetic nerves, they themselves inhibit secretion and cause side effects such as dry mouth, which is not necessarily caused by barbiturates.
“In terms of safety, drugs must continue to undergo safety monitoring (Phase 4) from animal experiments, human trials to clinical trials even after they are put on the market. If the number of adverse reactions or side effects increases, the drug’s drug certificate will still be It may be abolished. From the perspective of effectiveness, a derivative of a pharmaceutical ingredient may be used to treat different diseases. It may be useless for person A, but it may have a significant effect on person B!”
Chairman Xu Youshan said that taking the current generation of anti-gastric drugs as an example, including H2-blockers (histamine blockers) and PPI (hydrogen ion pump blockers), compared with compound drugs containing barbiturates, Parasympathetic side effects are rare and are currently the most prescribed drugs. Only if the effect is not good or there are serious side effects, doctors will adjust the drugs according to the situation. The public should take medicines correctly according to the instructions of doctors and pharmacists. If they have any concerns about adverse reactions or side effects, they should bring the prescription to medical institutions or community pharmacies for professional consultation.
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