Noel’s List Of The Top Ten Drugs No Civilization On Earth Should Be Without

After successfully completing two back-breaking exams, I thought I’d celebrate by posting something FUN about science. Here it is:


NOEL’S LIST OF THE TOP TEN DRUGS NO CIVILIZATION ON EARTH SHOULD BE WITHOUT

1. Anti-Inflammatory and Pain Relief Drugs

Commonly known as: Aspirin, Acetaminophen, Ibuprofen, Codeine; Common Prescription Brand Names: Endocet, Roxicet, Tylox, Tylenol with Codeine nos. 1-4, Allay, Anexia, Bancap, Ceta-Plus, Dolacet, Hydrocet, Lorcet, Lortab, Margesic, Norco, Panacet, Percocet, Stagesic, Vicodin, Zydone, Talacen, OxyContin

This is without a doubt, the most widely-used class of drugs, if not for aspirin alone. There are so many combinations available, from simple generic aspirin, to prescription Tylenol with codeine. Most people are fine with over-the-counter retail drugs, but there several prescription ones out there that are much more potent, regulated, and fun to learn about. The narcotics in particular are popular among the underground, if not downright illegal. I find the opiods vastly interesting, but they work on the CNS and really deserve their own category. Some professors would have my neck for classifying them with the NSAIDS (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). Anyway, pain relief seems to be the most prominent concern in the drug world, and more of these drugs are consumed than any other.

2. Drugs for Bacterial Infections

Common Brand Names: Amoxil, Trimox, Larotid, Wymox, Augmentin, Marcillin, Omnipen, Probampacin, Spectrobid, Geocillin, Cloxapen, Dycill, Pathocil, Unipen, Bactocill, Pfizerpen, Beepen, Veetids

As with the first category, there are way too many drugs here for me to list. You all get the big idea: bacteria are bad and common and when they infect us (which is usually pretty often), we need to get rid of them quickly. I’ve only listed the beta-lactam inhibitors. They work by inhibiting cell wall synthesis in bacteria. There are some other more obscure and creative drugs out there, but I’m not a big fan of bacteriology and I’d rather move on.

3. Cholesterol-Inhibiting Drugs

Common Brand Names: Lipitor, Zocor, Lescol, Altocor, Mevacor, Advicor, Pravachol, Pravigard PAC, Crestor, Zetia

This is a big one. Most people don’t realize it, but this is actually THE biggest one, at least in terms of prescription drug sales. Pfizer’s Lipitor and Merck’s Zocor are the two most prescribed, used and lucrative drugs. Aside from the economic concerns, cholesterol-inhibiting drugs are really medically important. Obesity is a big issue in America and there is a push towards research in obesity-related drugs. Cholesterol synthesis isn’t exactly the same thing as being “fat,” but it’s a common medical concern, especially with age. I know so many adults that are taking these drugs nowadays it’s obscene. Many of them aren’t even “fat,” (in my humble opinion). Next time you go home, check your parent’s drug cabinet. Chances are, at least one of them will be taking these drugs.

4. Antidepressants and Antipsychotic Drugs

Common Brand Names: Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Wellbutrin, Effexor, Zyprexa, Dyprexa, Celexa, Lexapro, Sarafem, Luvox, Moclebemide, Harmala, Nardil, Parnate, Marplan

Aldous Huxley once wrote:
"Two thousand pharmacologists and bio-chemists were subsidized. Six years later it was being produced commercially. The perfect drug. Euphoric, narcotic, pleasantly hallucinant. All the advantages of Christianity and alcohol; none of their defects. Take a holiday from reality whenever you like, and come back without so much as a headache or a mythology. Stability was practically assured." (Brave New World)

These drugs have received so much coverage and controversy in recent years I just had to touch on it for my sake. Huxley paints a rather grim and sterile portrait of psychoactive drugs, but if you’ve ever taken any one of these antidepressants, you’ll know that they don’t really make you instantly happy and complacent but just “color” your mood, maybe sedate you a little, and potentially give you some motivation. The human mind is far more complicated than any molecule, and it’s a bit simplistic, in my opinion, to relegate so much responsibility on a drug. You are who you are and that’s not going to change by swallowing a pill. Depression and mental health concerns are a major life issue and it’s a pity these drugs aren’t given the respect they ought to have. I don’t think people really start appreciating the power of drugs until they start taking one of these drugs. Everyone takes drugs to cure some ailment in at least at some part of his or her life, but most people just swallow the pill and forget that it’s even working. Not so with the psychoactive drugs. These drugs have the potential to make a big difference -- and not one you’re likely to forget. I don’t give into many of the hogwash theories out there about antidepressants and antipsychotic drugs changing your personality and who you are. I firmly believe that these drugs help people and save lives. They have great potential, and they definitely deserve to be on top of this list.

5. Cancer-Inhibiting Drugs

Amifostine, Aminoglutethimide, Bicalutamide, Bleomycin, Cisplatin, Cladribine, Clodronate, Filgrastim, Goserelin, Hydroxyurea, Idarubicin, Letrozole, Leucovorin, Leuprolide, Medroxyprogesterone, Megestrol, Melphalan, Mitomycin, Pentostatin, Plicamycin, Porfimer, Tamoxifen, Testosterone, Thalidomide, Thioguanine, Tretinoin, Vindesine

I list the generic instead of the brand names here, because they seem to be more relevant in this field. There’s a real push in the biotechnology world to discover these drugs. Most of the chemotherapeutic drugs for cancer now are broad-acting and have a number of undesirable side effects. They target the rapidly-dividing cells in your body, which means cancer cells, but unfortunately hair cells, skin cells, endothelial (gut lining) cells, and a numerous host of other cells as well. This is why people in chemotherapy lose their hair and have such bad nausea all the time. Much more research needs to be done in this arena. There really hasn’t been a ground-breaking drug here that’s been both safe and effective.

6. Drugs for Viral Infections

Common Brand Names: Agenerase, Combivir, Retrovir, Epivir, Crixivan, Emtriva, Epivir, Epzicom, Fortovase, Fuzeon, Hivid, Invirase, Kaletra, Lexiva, Norvir, Rescriptor, Reyataz, Sustiva, Trizivir, Videx, Viracept, Viramune, Viread, Zerit, Ziagen

You’ll hear it time and time again: there is no cure for the common cold. There still isn’t. Yet, there is a push to discover new anti-viral drugs, and it’s mostly from one high-profile and controversial disease: AIDS. This virus has decimated certain minority populations and South Africa. No one drug has really risen above all others, but treatments often involve drug cocktails that prolong life by a certain percentage. The problems with viruses are that they live inside cells and can incorporate themselves unto our own DNA. The biology behind these drugs is truly fascinating, in part because there are so many hurdles to cross. Many of these drugs are protease inhibitors or nucleoside analog reverse transcriptase inhibitors. Their modes of action are very complex.

7. Heart and Antihypertensive Drugs

way more than I care to mention, but the ones I know are: Atenolol, Metoprolol, Nadolol, Propranolol, Timolol, Norvasc, Plavix, Catapres (Clonidine), Digitoxin, Digoxin

This is a large, large category, and it hurts me as biologist to just clump them all under #7. Some of these work on receptors, some are antiplatelet, and others have complex mechanisms that would just let me ramble on and on and bore you to death. To give you an idea of their complexity, these drugs are further classified into some of the following major categories: Angiotensin-converting Enzyme Inhibitors (ACE inhibitors), Angiotensin II Receptor Antagonists, Beta blockers, Blood Vessel Dilators (Vasodilators), Calcium Channel Blockers, Diuretics, and Nerve Blockers. It really takes a cardiopharmacologist to explain them all! The bottom line is: many people have heart and cardiovascular problems and these drugs are very important. With that said, let me move on and finish this list!

8. Estradiols and Birth-control Drugs

Common Brand Names: Alesse, Lessina, Aviane, Levlite, Cryselle, Loestrin, Levlen, Levora, Microgestin, Nordette, Lo/Ovral, Low-Orgestrel, Yasmin, Portia, Loestrin, Microgestin, Zovia, Ortho-Cyclen, Sprintec, Necon, Norinyl, Ortho-Novum, Nortrel, Demulen, Ortho-Cept, Zovia, OrthoEvra, Ovral, Brevicon, NuvaRing, Norplant II, Progestrasert, Mirena, Plan B, Preven

It’s a common fact of life: people have babies that they don’t necessarily want right away or can care for. It’s only been in the past several years that women have started widely using drugs to take control of their sex lives. Just think about how horrible a world would be if people couldn’t separate the recreational and affirmative values of sex from its reproductive ones. It would be just plain MEDIEVAL. I don’t think we can maintain a healthy society that way. There would be too much concealment, detachment, desolation, and repression for me. There’s no reason for a society to regress back to the Dark Ages if the technology exists. Birth-control drugs should be legal and implemented in all countries, especially in undeveloped ones where people need it most.

9. Impotence Drugs

Common Brand Names: Viagra, Levitra, Cialis

Not as many names here as the contraceptive drugs, but the ones listed are major. For years this was the problem that many older people had but couldn’t do anything or even talk about. Now, that’s changed. The discovery of Viagra and the other cGMP inhibitors for erectile dysfunction launched a new market that has been publicized widely. People are quick to criticize and make fun of these “sex drugs” but I think they do alot of serious good in the world. People have enough problems as it is and sexual frustrations with the person you love shouldn’t have to be one of them. These problems can accumulate and seriously do harm to a person’s psychology …so, if there’s a drug for it, why not? Viagra, Levitra, and Cialis go under #9 on my list.

10. Gastrointestinal Drugs

Common Brand Names: Aciphex, Cytotec, Zegerid, Carafate, Pepcid, Axid, Tagamet, Zantac, Imodium, Opium, Meridia, Nexium, Ogastro/Prevacid, Prevpac, Prilosec, Protonix, Xenical, Adipex, Lipram, Pancrease, Ultrase, Antivert, Zofram, Emend, MiraLax, Cephulac, Reglan, Bentyl, Anaspaz, Librax, Levsin, Asacol

Most of these drugs treat ulcers, which is a common medical concern. Some of them treat heartburn. The others are proton-pump inhibitors, antacids, stomach coatings, H2 blockers, or antibiotics. As you can see, this is really a general category that includes certain drug classes, and I could even throw some of them in with anti-inflammatory and pain-relief drugs if I wanted to. I don’t really have much to say about the gastrointestinal drugs, which I personally find to be rather dull, but gastrointestinal issues seem to be the number 2 general concern after pain relief and it would be a crime not to include them in “Noel’s List of the Top Ten Drugs no Civilization on Earth should be without.”


Other drugs that didn’t make it to my list:

If I could include more than 10, I would have definitely included allergy drugs, asthma drugs, osteoporosis drugs, heartburn drugs, drugs for anemia, and anti-diabetic drugs. So many people have allergies, an equally large percentage have asthma, nearly all of the women in my life will probably be taking osteoporosis drugs after 50; and heartburn, anemia, and diabetes are just HUGE concerns. However, I must restrain myself with just 10 drugs. It wouldn’t be right to remove gastrointestinal drugs when people suffer from stomach problems all the time. I conceptually include heartburn drugs with the larger category of gastrointestinal-related-concerns drugs. I’m also certainly not about to remove birth-control and impotence drugs from the list when I know how HUGELY important they are to society and personal psychology in general. From sales, asthma and allergy drugs are probably more important than birth-control and impotence drugs, but asthma is so common nobody really thinks about it these days, and they certainly don’t receive as much public coverage or controversy as those drugs linked to reproduction. Some of these drugs can make or break companies. There have been huge corporate battles over these drugs, such as when Pfizer tried to protect Viagra by claiming that Bayer’s Levitra and Eli Lilly’s Cialis infringed on its patent rights. This is big business, and it’s just plain common sense that medicine is tied to everyone.

So, there you go: my list. Some of the drugs are given more interesting overviews than the others, but in general, I think I give a good “Pharmacologist’s Eye-view of the World’s Concerns” here. Send me a comment if you disagree.