Atropine
Atropine is a prescription medication classified as an anticholinergic, which functions by blocking the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. It is utilized in various medical contexts, including the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, certain heart conditions, and digestive issues. Atropine is derived from the plant Atropa belladonna, known for its toxic properties and historical significance in herbal medicine. First discovered by German pharmacist Heinrich Mein in 1831, atropine can be administered through injections, oral formulations, and eye drops.
The medication is particularly effective in reducing mucus production during surgeries and is sometimes used to treat gastrointestinal disorders such as peptic ulcers and irritable bowel syndrome. Additionally, atropine is employed in ophthalmology to dilate pupils for eye examinations and to manage conditions like uveitis. Beyond its approved uses, it also has off-label applications, including managing symptoms in patients with brain cancer and counteracting specific types of poisoning. Overall, atropine's diverse applications reflect its longstanding role in pharmacotherapy.
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Atropine
Atropine is a prescription drug that can be administered in several ways. It is in a class of drugs called anticholinergics, which block the neurotransmitter, or nerve messenger, known as acetylcholine. Doctors use atropine to treat many conditions, including Parkinson's disease, some heart conditions, and certain digestive system problems.
Overview
Experts generally credit German pharmacist Heinrich Mein with discovering atropine in 1831. Atropine is a natural alkaloid. Alkaloids are nitrogen-containing plant compounds that can have significant physical effects on people and animals. Many are poisonous, including Atropa belladonna, which produces atropine and provides its name. Belladonna is in the nightshade family, a category that includes many plants and plant parts that are poisonous to varying degrees.
Another German, chemist Richard Willstätter, made a synthetic derivative of atropine known as homatropine in 1901. Beginning in 1910, atropine was given to patients before surgery. One of the effects of atropine is that it helps to dry up mucus and other secretions in the nose, mouth, throat, lungs, and stomach. The anesthesia used to put patients to sleep during surgery prevents them from being able to swallow and slows other actions of the body. During surgery, mucus would build up in the mouth, presenting a choking hazard. Physicians used atropine to counteract this problem.
Scientists have found many other uses for atropine over the years. Doctors still sometimes use it as a pre-surgical treatment to help dry mucosal secretions. However, physicians in the twenty-first century use other agents more often. It is still used in some heart surgeries though. For these purposes, doctors usually administer atropine by injection.
Oral versions of atropine are included in many allergy medications, which take advantage of the drug's ability to reduce nasal and oral secretions. It is also used in medications intended to help with symptoms of gastrointestinal distress in conditions such as peptic ulcers, colitis, diverticulitis, infant colic, irritable bowel syndrome, and diarrhea resulting from certain physical conditions. In these cases, it works by either reducing stomach acid or calming spasms in the digestive system.
In addition to the oral and injectable forms, atropine is also formulated into eye drops. These can be used to dilate the eye, or widen the pupil, before eye exams and to treat some eye conditions, including uveitis, which is a form of eye inflammation. Homatropine is often used in eye drops to dilate the eye because it is less powerful than atropine and its effects do not last as long, reducing the amount of time the patient needs to protect the eye from light.
Doctor sometimes use atropine to treat unusual laughing or crying episodes suffered by some brain cancer patients. It is also used to counteract poisoning caused by some mushrooms, certain types of insecticides, and nerve gases. Atropine has many off-label uses as well. This means that doctors prescribe the drug for uses that governing agencies have not officially approved. However, physicians often prescribe the drug because they believe there is evidence that it can help the patient anyway.
Bibliography
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