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Science students will study drugs in high school, both recreational and medical. This quiz concentrates on medical drugs and how they are tested in drug trials.
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Humans have developed a wide range of drugs to help maintain health. Two of the most commonly used are painkillers and antibiotics but there are many others - antiinflammatory, steroids, anti-cancer and heart drugs to name but a few. Scientists are continually developing new drugs but when new medical drugs are devised, they have to be extensively tested and trialed before being used. It can take several years from developing the drug to using it on patients. They are tested in a series of stages to find out if they are safe and effective. New drugs are extensively tested for toxicity, efficiency and dose.
How exactly are drugs tested? Well, the first stage takes place in a laboratory where drugs are tested on cells, tissues and live animals. If they pass those tests, clinical trials take place using volunteers. The doses are gradually increased until the best is found. These trials are carried out under controlled conditions.
During the 1950s, a drug was developed as a sedative or sleeping pill. It was called thalidomide. It was subsequently sold to pregnant women suffering from morning sickness. A lot of these women then gave birth to children whose limbs had not developed properly, around half of the children subsequently died. Thalidomide was taken off the market. How did this happen? It was only tested for its efficiency as a sedative and was assumed to be safe. It is now just used to treat certain types of cancer and leprosy. Following this terrible error, drug testing rules were made much stricter.
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1.
|
Which one of the following is not a medical drug? |
|
| [ ] |
Heroin |
| [ ] |
LSD |
| [ ] |
Paracetamol |
| [ ] |
Thalidomide |
|
|
|
2.
|
Why must medical drugs be tested before they are used on patients? |
|
| [ ] |
To check they work efficiently |
| [ ] |
To check that they are safe to use |
| [ ] |
To find the best dose |
| [ ] |
All of the above |
|
|
|
3.
|
Why was thalidomide sold to pregnant women? |
|
| [ ] |
To cure backache |
| [ ] |
To prevent varicose veins |
| [ ] |
To help them sleep |
| [ ] |
To stop morning sickness |
|
|
|
4.
|
What were the effects of thalidomide on a fetus? |
|
| [ ] |
Twisted spine |
| [ ] |
Limb abnormalities |
| [ ] |
Kidney problems |
| [ ] |
Uneven growth of the head bones (elephantitis) |
|
|
|
5.
|
What is the importance of thalidomide? |
|
| [ ] |
It was the first ever antibiotic |
| [ ] |
It prompted drug testing laws to be improved |
| [ ] |
It was the most profitable drug of all time |
| [ ] |
It was the first drug to be sold that didn't need a prescription |
|
|
|
6.
|
Why are drugs tested on cells, tissues and live animals in the laboratory first? |
|
| [ ] |
Only to see if it does what the scientists hope it will do |
| [ ] |
Only to find out if it could be toxic |
| [ ] |
Only to check for the right dose |
| [ ] |
To see if it if it works and is non-toxic |
|
|
|
7.
|
What is the purpose of the first clinical trial? |
|
| [ ] |
To see if it is toxic to humans |
| [ ] |
To find the best dose |
| [ ] |
To make some money so that they can manufacture the drug |
| [ ] |
To see if people like the taste of the new drug |
|
|
|
8.
|
What is a placebo? |
|
| [ ] |
A double strength version of a drug |
| [ ] |
A half strength version of a drug |
| [ ] |
A fake version of the drug |
| [ ] |
A scientist who specializes in doing clinical trials |
|
|
|
9.
|
What is a double blind clinical trial? |
|
| [ ] |
One in which the patients wear blindfolds so they don't know if they have had the drug or the placebo |
| [ ] |
Only the doctors know who has had the drug and who has had the placebo |
| [ ] |
Only the patients know who has had the drug and who has had the placebo |
| [ ] |
Neither the doctors nor the patients know who has had the drug and who has had the placebo until afterwards |
|
|
|
10.
|
Which of these is one reason why it costs a lot of money to develop new drugs? |
|
| [ ] |
A lot of the new substances being developed as drugs fail the first tests |
| [ ] |
It makes the drugs companies more profit |
| [ ] |
They pay large sums of money to people who agree to take part in clinical trials |
| [ ] |
Making the placebo costs twice as much as making the new drug |
|
|
|
1.
|
Which one of the following is not a medical drug? |
|
| [ ] |
Heroin |
| [x] |
LSD |
| [ ] |
Paracetamol |
| [ ] |
Thalidomide |
|
|
|
2.
|
Why must medical drugs be tested before they are used on patients? |
|
| [ ] |
To check they work efficiently |
| [ ] |
To check that they are safe to use |
| [ ] |
To find the best dose |
| [x] |
All of the above |
|
|
|
3.
|
Why was thalidomide sold to pregnant women? |
|
| [ ] |
To cure backache |
| [ ] |
To prevent varicose veins |
| [ ] |
To help them sleep |
| [x] |
To stop morning sickness |
|
|
|
4.
|
What were the effects of thalidomide on a fetus? |
|
| [ ] |
Twisted spine |
| [x] |
Limb abnormalities |
| [ ] |
Kidney problems |
| [ ] |
Uneven growth of the head bones (elephantitis) |
|
|
|
5.
|
What is the importance of thalidomide? |
|
| [ ] |
It was the first ever antibiotic |
| [x] |
It prompted drug testing laws to be improved |
| [ ] |
It was the most profitable drug of all time |
| [ ] |
It was the first drug to be sold that didn't need a prescription |
|
|
|
6.
|
Why are drugs tested on cells, tissues and live animals in the laboratory first? |
|
| [ ] |
Only to see if it does what the scientists hope it will do |
| [ ] |
Only to find out if it could be toxic |
| [ ] |
Only to check for the right dose |
| [x] |
To see if it if it works and is non-toxic |
|
|
|
7.
|
What is the purpose of the first clinical trial? |
|
| [x] |
To see if it is toxic to humans |
| [ ] |
To find the best dose |
| [ ] |
To make some money so that they can manufacture the drug |
| [ ] |
To see if people like the taste of the new drug |
|
|
|
8.
|
What is a placebo? |
|
| [ ] |
A double strength version of a drug |
| [ ] |
A half strength version of a drug |
| [x] |
A fake version of the drug |
| [ ] |
A scientist who specializes in doing clinical trials |
|
|
|
9.
|
What is a double blind clinical trial? |
|
| [ ] |
One in which the patients wear blindfolds so they don't know if they have had the drug or the placebo |
| [ ] |
Only the doctors know who has had the drug and who has had the placebo |
| [ ] |
Only the patients know who has had the drug and who has had the placebo |
| [x] |
Neither the doctors nor the patients know who has had the drug and who has had the placebo until afterwards |
|
|
|
10.
|
Which of these is one reason why it costs a lot of money to develop new drugs? |
|
| [x] |
A lot of the new substances being developed as drugs fail the first tests |
| [ ] |
It makes the drugs companies more profit |
| [ ] |
They pay large sums of money to people who agree to take part in clinical trials |
| [ ] |
Making the placebo costs twice as much as making the new drug |
|
|
