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Mode of action of paracetamol

Hi guys!

Can someone give me a bit of help. I've got to do a 1500 word essay on the mode of action of paracetamol on the brain. Can someone give me a start, I'm an AS student so I'm just lost.

Thanks!

Reply 1

MonteCristo

This seems like a really tough thing to ask for at AS-level, particularly as no-one really knows how paracetamol works. These issues are likely to be covered in academic papers but you probably won't have access to many of these. You might want to look at:

http://www.slideshare.net/aclaesson/paracetamol-mechanism-on-slide-share-39192733
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/enhanced/doi/10.1016/j.clpt.2005.09.009

Note that paracetamol (probably) has both peripheral and central (i.e. the brain) effects... it sounds as if your essay should only be focussing on the latter.

Tough !!

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 2

Zakadoh

Mirror what the above poster has said.....does anyone actually know?! Have you been given this or have you chosen it as a title?!

Reply 3

Loyale

I've chosen this as my title after emailing my tutor to changing it, Erm, is there a more straightforward drug which has a more straightforward mode of action on the brain?

Reply 4

Zakadoh

Off the top of my head SSRIs, which are first line antidepressants, would be easier. Or the antipsychotics. If you want to stick with pain relief though then maybe ibuprofen (NSAID) or morphine (opioid) would both be better than paracetomol. There is a lot of scope with the psychiatric drugs especially, but with 1500 words you could get an essay out of any of the ones i mentioned

Reply 5

thegodofgod

Agree with MonteCristo, choosing to write about paracetamol would make your life difficult :tongue:

Also agree with Zakadoh - opioids (e.g. morphine) are good to talk about in terms of painkillers, but IMO antipsychotics (especially the comparing difference between the first and second generation antipsychotics) would also be good to talk about in terms of different neuronal pathways and the drugs' efficacy and safety.

Reply 6

Loyale

Original post by Zakadoh

Off the top of my head SSRIs, which are first line antidepressants, would be easier. Or the antipsychotics. If you want to stick with pain relief though then maybe ibuprofen (NSAID) or morphine (opioid) would both be better than paracetamol. There is a lot of scope with the psychiatric drugs especially, but with 1500 words you could get an essay out of any of the ones i mentioned

Thank you so much! Erm, so if i email my tutor ask to do morphine instead, will morphine be easier to write about and more straightforward in terms of brain and the pharmacology behind it?

I've probably bugged you enough but could you send me a link to start off research for the mechanism for morphine?

Thanks again, you're a lifesaver! :h:

Reply 7

Zakadoh

Original post by Loyale

Haha! Morphine will definitelty be easier. Im not gunna give you a link though matey....not being harsh, but 5 minutes on google and you can do that. If you wanna be a med student youre gunna be doing a lot of that! Lol