Side Effects. (Me cheati... researching using head-fi)

[stewtheking]

Okay, so I am writing an essay, and in time-honoured tradition, bumming around on head-fi instead. And I thought "hey, why not combine the 2?" Basically I need a few good ideas.

The essay is on pharmacological benefits vs pharmacological costs of drugs, I have the basic structure in my head, but I need a few really good classic examples of drugs with side effects to write about.

Clearly I am going to mention Chemotherapy, being a fairly obvious example, and maybe drop in Insulin therapy, but I need a couple more solid examples and my mind has gone blank.

Anybody got any ideas?

 

[JahJahBinks]

Accutane? We just dicussed this.

 

[Scotty757]

By "pharmacologic costs" do you mean side effects, or actual monetary costs? Assuming the former, the examples you have are quite good. Chemo is a great point for debate, and insulin a classic example of how an almost "perfect" drug, when administered correctly, alleviates a condition with minimal SEs.

 

[floydenheimer]

Fosamax was recently found to cause osteonecrosis iirc.

 

[stewtheking]

I meant to type physiological costs, maybe I need sleep rather than essay time. I thought that those two were quite classic examples. I might even discuss homeopathy, being a not-quite-able-to-ignore "science" that claims to have zero side effects. But I'll see how the word-count goes.

 

[Marados]

Placebos perhaps?

 

[marvin]

Estrogen replacement therapy and the use of anabolic steroids fall in the "large benefits with major issues" category.

 

[c0mfortably_numb]

Antidepressants, especially now that they claim SSRI's increase suicide in teens under 18.

 

[mr_baseball_08]

Viagra

 

[Shizelbs]

Happy to provide any info or perspective, help in general. You need but ask.

 

[Bob_McBob]

Ototoxic medications

 

[Uncle Erik]

Benadryl. I just took some, by the way.

The cat needed some affection tonight, so I held her for awhile. I love cats, but am allergic to them. I can't imagine not having one around, so I just deal with the allergies.

Anyhow, it's about to knock me flat in the next 15-20 minutes. Benadryl does a good job of suppressing the allergies, but it puts me to sleep. I can only take it at night, 30-60 minutes before bed.

Would that be a good one to write about?

 

[stewtheking]

Some good suggestions guys. I think I have enough to fill out my skeleton structure. Thanks also to Shizelbs, but I think I think I know what I am thinking about this, just needed some nice examples. Benadryl particularly I think is a good one, as you can tie in the non-drowsy ones.

Thanks head-fi!

 

[Shizelbs]

Benadryl vs. non-sedating antihistamines would be a good choice. Again, happy to help if you want some.