填空题
VALIUM
In the 1960s,
Valium was launched around the world as the new miracle pill. It was prescribed
for dozens of ailments, including stress, panic attacks, back pain, insomnia and
calming patients before and after surgery. Four decades later, many are
questioning why the drug is still so popular, given that doctors and drug
addiction workers believe Valium, and drugs like it, create more health problems
than they solve.
Valium-a Latin word meaning
"strong and well"-was developed in the early 1960s in the United States (US) by
Dr. Leo Sternbach, a Polish chemist working for pharmaceutical giant
Hoffman-LaRoche. Approved for use in 1963, Valium quickly became a favourite
among mental heath professionals and general practitioners. Valium was the most
prescribed drug in the US between 1969 and 1982. At the peak of Valium use in
the 1970s, Hoffman LaRoche's parent company, the Roche Group, was selling about
two billion Valium pills a year, earning the company $US 600 million a year.
Valium quickly became a household name, the drug of choice for millions of
people, from the rich and famous to the stressed executive and the frustrated
housewife.
These days Valium is still a popular choice. From
2002-2003, 50% of prescriptions for diazepams (the generic name for Valium) in
Australia were for Valium. Almost two million scripts were issued for diazepam
in 2002, costing consumers and governments more than $13 million.
Diazepams belong to a class of drugs known as benzodiazepines, which
include tranquillizers to ease anxiety and hypnotics to treat insomnia. Valium
and other benzodiazepines were marketed as fast acting, non-addictive and as
having no side effects. Initially benzodiazepines were considered to be quite
safe, especially compared to other drugs on the market. For example,
barbiturates were also very toxic and a small overdose would be fatal.
One of the great advantages of benzodiazepines over their predecessors was
that even if the patient took many tablets, they would get very sick and go off
to sleep, but they wouldn't die. It seemed too good to be true. And of course it
was.
Some doctors began to observe alarming facts about benzodiazepines which
weren't well known during the 1960s and the 1970s, and which are still true
today. They were addictive, even in small doses; they could be safely prescribed
for only a very short period; and the body adapted to the drug within a week,
which usually led the user to take higher dosages or an increased number of
tablets.
In addition to this, what wasn't well known until the
early 1980s is that a much larger group of people had become dependent on these
benzodiazepines, including Valium, by taking the normal dose. Although they were
only taking 2 mg three times a day, doctors observed that within a week they
were becoming dependent. Moreover, they were becoming very ill if that dose was
reduced or withdrawn.
Because the withdrawal from
benzodiazepines is brutal, doctors continue to prescribe the medication for fear
of the patient's health during withdrawal. Doctors believe that there is no
point in refusing to prescribe the drug until the patient is prepared to stop.
Valium has a long half-life, which means that it takes 30-plus hours for the
body to get rid of half of the daily dose. As a result, withdrawals from Valium
are just as difficult as withdrawals from other drugs, including alcohol.
Patients who are withdrawing can have fits for five or six days after they have
stopped taking Valium, which is one of the big Asks. It usually takes the body
five to seven days to detoxify from alcohol and less than a month for heroin
compared to withdrawal from Valium which can take up to six months.
Many doctors believe that Valium gives people false hope and argue that
while many patients feel better when they initially begin taking the drug, the
feelings are short-lived. In the case of benzodiazepines they should only be
taken as part of an overall examination of the patient's lifestyle.
Guidelines have been developed to support the appropriate use by doctors
and patients of Valium and other benzodiazepines. Doctors need to talk about
what is causing the stress and suggest possible alternative treatment options.
The flip side of the coin is that consumers need to take ownership of the
medicines that they are taking. They should talk to their doctor about the
impact the medication has on their health. This also helps doctors to help
manage their patient's health. The emergence of concerns over the use of Valium,
originally hailed as the wonder drug of its day, is a warning for us all to be
cautious about the newer drugs. What it all boils down to is that doctors and
patients need to monitor the use of all medicines-this includes prescription
medicine as welt as over-the-counter medications.
(Source:
The Weekend Australian, Saturday 26 July 2003, "Anxious and Addicted" by Clare
Pirani. Copyright." used with permission.)
Questions 14-18
Look at the
following statements (Questions 14-18). Indicate:
YES if the statement agrees with information in the
passage
NO if the statement contradicts
information in the passage
NOT GIVEN if
the information is not given in the passage.
Write your
answers in boxes 14-18 on your Answer Sheet.