Tranquilizers - Effects on the Body

Effects on the Body

Tranquilizers act on the brain by affecting the neurotransmitter known as GABA. Although different types of tranquilizers work in different ways, ultimately they all decrease brain activity by increasing GABA activity. This action produces a drowsy, calming effect that helps those suffering from anxiety or sleep disorders. Some tranquilizers are absorbed into the bloodstream very quickly, and others are timed to be released in slower amounts. For example, barbiturate classification is determined by how quickly the drugs start to work and how long the effects last. An ultrashort-acting barbiturate starts working in less than one minute. Long-acting barbiturates take effect in about one hour, and their effects can last for about twelve hours.

Effects on the body also differ depending on what kind of tranquilizer is ingested. Most tranquilizers produce a general calming feeling, a reduction in stress and anxiety, and sometimes a feeling of happiness. Other effects include slowed heart rate, reduced muscle spasms, pain relief, a decrease in convulsions, and even sedation.

Dangerous Side Effects

Depending on the dose, frequency, and duration of use, tolerance and dependence can occur rapidly among users of tranquilizers. Tolerance is a condition in which higher and higher doses of a drug are needed to produce the original effect or high experienced. Dependence occurs when a user has a physical or psychological need to take a certain substance in order to function. As tolerance develops, users may increase their doses to dangerous levels that can result in comaA state of unconsciousness from which a person cannot be aroused by noise or other stimuli. or death.

Other harmful side effects may develop if an individual uses tranquilizers for a long time period. At high doses, both major and minor tranquilizers may cause convulsions, slowed breathing, loss of speech, and kidney problems. Major tranquilizers can also cause confusion, agitation, heart and breathing problems, weight gain, lowered blood pressure, tremors, and muscle stiffening. In the long term, one of the most serious side effects of neuroleptics is tardive dyskinesia (TAR-div diss-kih-NEE-zhuh; TD). TD is a nerve disorder that causes involuntary tics and uncontrollable movements of the face, mouth, tongue, and limbs. It can also interfere with breathing if it affects the chest. The onset of TD usually begins between six months to two years after the use of neuroleptics starts. It occurs in about 20 percent of patients treated with these types of tranquilizers.

Another possible side effect of major tranquilizers is the development of a life-threatening disorder called neuroleptic malignant syndrome. Symptoms of neuroleptic malignant syndrome include a very high fever, sweating, rapid heart rate, high blood pressure, incontinenceThe loss of bladder and/or bowel control., stupor (profound drowsiness or lethargy), deliriumA mental disturbance marked by confusion, hallucinations, and difficulty focusing attention and communicating., extreme muscle rigidity, and coma. Once the syndrome is diagnosed in a patient, steps are taken to minimize the risk of brain damage. The neuroleptic drug is discontinued immediately, and efforts are made to reduce the fever as quickly as possible.

Minor tranquilizers can also have serious side effects, such as dizziness, irritability, confusion, and loss of memory. Some long-term users have also reported blurred and double vision, increased anxiety, insomnia, hallucinations, depression, agitation, and aggression. The ability to drive or operate machinery can be extremely impaired in people taking minor tranquilizers.

The Thalidomide Tragedy and the Woman Who Said "No"

The thalidomide (thuh-LIH-doh-myd) tragedy is a prime example of what can happen when doctors prescribe drugs that have not been thoroughly studied and tested. Created in a West German lab in 1954, the hypnotic drug was sold as a sleep aid in Australia, Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America. It was considered so safe that it was also given to thousands of pregnant women to relieve morning sickness—the nausea and vomiting that often accompany the early stages of pregnancy.

By the end of the 1950s, doctors became alarmed when there was a shocking increase in the number of babies born with disabilities. Some had brain damage. Many were born with very short, flipper-like arms or legs, a condition known as phocomelia (foh-koh-MEE-lee-uh). When doctors began tracing these disabilities back to the mother's use of thalidomide, these children became known as "thalidomide babies." As of 2005, there were approximately 12,000 people dealing with some form of disability caused by their mother's use of thalidomide.

A dangerous drug like thalidomide was so widely prescribed because drug testing procedures in the 1950s were much different than they are in the 2000s. At that time, drug companies did not have to submit testing results to the appropriate government agencies. Also, drug manufacturers were not required to reveal some of the results of the tests, which were conducted on rodents—animals that are very different from humans.

FDA's Kelsey Says "No"

In the United States, the right to distribute thalidomide was bought by the William S. Merrell Company, a division of Richardson-Merrell. The company had to get approval to sell the drug from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The thalidomide approval case was assigned to Canadian-born FDA researcher Dr. Frances Kathleen Oldham Kelsey (1914– ). It was her first case review and was expected to be a simple process, since the drug was already widely available around the world. But Kelsey was not convinced that the drug was safe. Despite intense pressure, she held up approval of thalidomide until further testing was complete. It wasn't long before there were reports from Europe of the serious health problems. The drug was quickly pulled from the market. Thanks to Kelsey's conviction about thalidomide, only seventeen thalidomide babies were born in the United States.

A young girl born with birth defects is shown eating her meal using her foot to hold her spoon in 1967. Many children were born with birth defects after their mothers took thalidomide while pregnant. Photo by Leonard Mccombe/Time Life Pictures/
A young girl born with birth defects is shown eating her meal using her foot to hold her spoon in 1967. Many children were born with birth defects after their mothers took thalidomide while pregnant. Photo by Leonard Mccombe/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images.

Thalidomide babies are still being born in other parts of the world, however. In 1965 doctors discovered that the drug was a very effective treatment for leprosy (LEPP-ruh-see), a tropical disease that is caused by bacteria and affects both the skin and the nerves. Leprosy may produce sores, scarring, and a loss of feeling, especially in the fingers and toes. Later, doctors began using thalidomide to combat Crohn's disease, a serious intestinal disease that causes inflammation along with severe pain, diarrhea, nausea, and sometimes extreme weight loss. The drug has also been prescribed to fight certain cancers and the ravaging effects of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), an infectious disease that destroys the body's immune system and leads to illness and death.

In underdeveloped and poverty-stricken nations across the world, thalidomide is often given to AIDS and leprosy patients—some of whom are pregnant. Despite the medical community's knowledge of the drug's severely harmful effects on babies, thalidomide is still being given to pregnant women who have few resources and are unaware of the dangers. Just one dose of thalidomide can cause major birth defects in a developing fetus. In 1998 the FDA gave approval for thalidomide to be marketed as a leprosy treatment in the United States, but with special safeguards to protect pregnant women.

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Brain Damage?

Other long-term effects have been harder to determine. Some researchers believe that prolonged use of minor tranquilizers affect overall brain function and may cause brain shrinkage. Because very few studies have measured these effects, there is little evidence to support such theories. It is generally agreed that taking a low dose over a long period of time has little impact on a user's brain and nervous system. However, if individuals begin to take these drugs at a higher dosage than prescribed or more frequently than recommended, they run the risk of developing serious health problems.