Deck 12: Dietary Supplements and Over-The-Counter Drugs

Question 1

Diphenhydramine is found in what three brand-name sleep aids?

Answer 1

A chemical molecule or formula, which is used for the treatment, diagnosis, mitigation, or prevention of disease, is called a drug. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulate the purity, accuracy and effectiveness of a drug. The drugs are classified into three types, namely stimulants, depressants and hallucinogens.
Diphenhydramine is an antihistamine drug and it has several other properties, like antitussive, anticholinergic, sedative and antiemetic properties. It was approved by the FDA as an OTC for the treatment of insomnia and allergies.
The three brand-name sleep aids that contain diphenhydramine are as follows: Nytol , Dimedrol and Daedalon.

Question 2

What effect of aspirin might be involved in its use to prevent transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) and heart attacks in men?

Answer 2

A chemical molecule or formula, which is used for the treatment, diagnosis, mitigation, or prevention of disease, is called a drug. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulate the purity, accuracy and effectiveness of a drug. The drugs are classified into three types, namely stimulants, depressants and hallucinogens.
Aspirin is classified under salicylates and it is generally used as a pain killer and also helps in regulating fever and inflammation. Hence, Aspirin has Antipyretic, Anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties.
Aspirin mainly acts in the reduction of myocardial infarction (heart attack) and strokes by the reduction of platelet aggregation and blood thinning. Current studies have shown that patients who are medicated with regular intake of aspirin have a minimum chance of second heart attack.
Thus, aspirin finally decreases the risk of death for the people suffering with heart attack and strokes.

Question 3

What are the differences in the therapeutic effects of acetaminophen and ibuprofen?

Answer 3

A chemical molecule or formula that is used for the treatment, diagnosis, mitigation, or prevention of disease is called a drug. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates the purity, accuracy and effectiveness of a drug. The drugs are classified into three types, namely stimulants, depressants and hallucinogens.
Acetaminophen is also called N-acetyl-p-aminophenol or paracetamol. It is an OTC (over-the counter) FDA approved drug, which has antipyretic and analgesic properties, but it has low anti-inflammatory activity.
Hence, it can reduce the fever and pain and can be used for treatment of headache, fever, postoperative pain and osteoarthritis. In case of osteoarthritis, acetaminophen can only reduce the pain but not swelling and redness of the joint.
Ibuprofen is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), which acts by inhibiting the enzyme cyclooxygenase (COX) and thereby reduces the inflammation. It is a competitive inhibitor of COX; hence it stops the conversion of arachidonic acid into PGH 2 (Prostaglandin H 2 ).
Ibuprofen also has antipyretic and analgesic properties but it mainly reduces the inflammation of joints. When compared to the Acetaminophen, the Ibuprofen is more effective in antipyretic, analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties, than Acetaminophen.

Question 4

What is the most common route for a cold virus to enter a person's system?

Question 5

Which cold symptoms are supposed to be relieved by chlorpheniramine maleate and which by phenylephrine?

Question 6

What is the main difference between OTC drugs and dietary supplements?

Question 7

What do the acronyms GRAS and GRAE stand for?

Question 8

What are the criteria for deciding whether a drug should be sold OTC or by prescription?

Question 9

What is the main ingredient found in OTC stimulants?

Question 10

How safe and effective are OTC weight-control products, according to the FDA?