Thalidomide is a sedative-hypnotic and has many uses. Treating
people who have myeloma is one of the many ways thalidomide is
used. Myeloma is a type of cancer that begins in the bone marrow and affects a
person's plasma cells. There are several different types of myeloma including
multiple myeloma, plasmactoma, localized myeloma, extramedullary myeloma, and a
few others. Thalidomide treats myeloma by strenthening the immune system to
fight cancer cells.
Another use for thalidomide is treating
and preventing skin symptoms of ENL (erythema nodosum leprosum) by blocking natural
substances that cause swelling. Thalidomide is also used to treat complications
caused by HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) including ulcers formed in the
mouth and HIV-associated diarrhea. It's also used to treat Crohn's disease which
is a condition where the body attacks the lining of the digestive tract causing
fever, weight loss, and pain. Side effects of using thalidomide for Crohn’s
disease can be as severe as seizures, chills, slowed or racing heartbeat, and
swelling in all part of the face. (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/meds/a699032.html)
Although never approved for use in the United States, thalidomide was
widely used in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Europe, Canada, and Japan to
treat nausea and sleeplessness in pregnant women suffering from morning
sickness. (http://www.uchospitals.edu/news/)
Not too long later, doctors realized that something had gone wrong. Many
babies born to women who had taken thalidomide during pregnancy suffered from
severe birth defects. Researchers later realized that the problem lay in the
fact that thalidomide was being provided as a mixture of two different isomeric
forms. (http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Organic_Chemistry/Organic_Chemistry_With_a_Biological_Emphasis/Chapter__3%3A_Conformations_and_Stereochemistry/Section_3.3%3A_Stereoisomerism_%E2%80%93_chirality,_stereocenters,_enantiomers)
Therefore,
even though thalidomide is a very helpful drug and has variety of uses, it also
can be very detrimental to the human body and offspring.
I think it is very interesting that a drug that had such a bad reputation in the 1960s now is being used for so many applications. I definitely think that it is the classic example of drug efficacy being dependent on stereochemistry.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to tell if the positive consequences outweigh the negatives. I actually recently learned that when thalidomide was used for pregnant women's morning sickness it caused infants to be born with spina bifida. This is very dangerous due to the fact that the child's spinal cord does not fully form and remains open and might even protrude through the bones. So I'd definitely say it can be a pretty dangerous drug.
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