Question

Q # 1: What is GHB and why is it important to study in the field of drugs and behaivor?

Q # 2: How can GHB be used therapeutically to treat patients with narcolepsy?

Q # 3: Briefly describe the history of GHB?

Q # 4: What are the differences between natural and synthetic GHB?

Q # 5: What are the pharmacological actions of GHB?

Q # 6: What are the pharmacological effects of GHB?

Q # 7: Explain the risks of addiction and overdose with GHB?

Q # 8: Explain how GHB is similar to alcohol, why it is not considered within the DSM, and its withdrawal symptoms?

Q # 9: What are the differences between inhalant rapid absorption and elimination and its pharmacological actions?

Q # 10: Explain the differences between inhalant overdose and sudden sniffing death syndrome?

Answer 1

• 1.GHB is also known as a party and a rape drug. Despite its growing popularity, many of the users remain unaware of its dangers, such as risky sexual behavior, cognitive impairment, and addiction.
• Gamma hydroxybutyrate,more commonly known as “GHB”,was first synthesized in 1960 by the French physician Dr. Henri Laborit.Because of its ability to reduce or impair consciousness, it was first used as an anesthetic. However, it was abandoned because of its weak pain-killing (analgesic) effects and its tendency to cause seizures.
• GHB affects a wide variety of biological functions such as sexual behavior and the sleep-wake cycle. The primary effects of GHB can range from mild relaxation to euphoria, but can also include negative effects such as amnesia, hallucinations, and even coma.The effects vary from pleasant to dangerous or even life-threatening according to the dose.
• The complexity of the actions of GHB is also highlighted by the myriad therapeutic roles for which it has been studied. For instance, GHB has been used as an intravenous anesthetic agent and in the treatment of sleep disorders.GHB has also been used to treat alcohol withdrawal and alcohol dependence in humans. In addition, GHB reportedly alleviates symptoms of opiate withdrawal in opioid-dependent humans as well as symptoms associated with fibromyalgia.
• 2.Various researchers have studied the use of GHB as a potential treatment for narcolepsy due to its sleep-inducing properties.It was thought that in narcoleptic patients GHB would act to “normalise” sleep patterns and reduce the problems associated with the disorder such as cataplexy (sudden loss of muscle tone), sleep paralysis, daytime-drowsiness and hypnagogic events,hallucinations that occur at the onset of sleep).
• The prescription form of GHB has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treatment of narcolepsy, a sleep disorder caused by the brain’s inability to regulate sleep-wake cycles. People with narcolepsy experience irresistible bouts of daytime sleep.GHB is available under the generic name sodium oxybate and trade name Xyrem (Orphan Medical) for the treatment of paralysis associated with narcolepsy.
• 3.GHB was synthesized and introduced into medicine in 1960 and in 1963 discovered as a naturally occurring chemical in the human brain.Throughout much of the 1960’s it was a popular anesthetic, but was abandoned by doctors following discoveries of its poor analgesic effects.
• In the 1970’s, GHB was recommended for the treatment of narcolepsy, though it was also found to be an ineffective and unpopular form of treatment primarily due to its euphoric side effects. Use began to intensify in the 1980’s when it was marketed as a fat burner and muscle developer.
• However, in 1990, based on more than 30 reports of GHB-linked illness, the FDA declared the chemical unsafe and ordered it to be removed from store’s shelves, thus limiting a user’s ability to purchase the product.
• Following the FDA ban, many producers of GHB began to switch their ingredients to GBL and BD and sold those drugs as muscle enhancers and sleep aids. On January 21, 1999, the FDA(Food and Drug Administration) began to ask manufactures of GBL( gamma-Butyrolactone)to stop producing it and to recall products containing GBL because it was never approved for human consumption.
• Around this same time GHB gained in popularity among ‘party drug’ users for its euphoric and aphrodisiac (a substance that enhances sexual desires) effects.In March 2000, GHB was federally classified as a 'Schedule I' drug.
  
• 4.Naturally, GHB exists as one of the chemicals found in the central nervous system and organs such as the heart, kidneys, liver and bones. Sold on the street as a clear, odorless, slightly salty liquid comprised of GHB salt dissolved in water, synthetic GHB may take the form of a white powder tablet/capsule or, more commonly, remain in its liquid form.
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