If you had to go through a very long time without having access to any health care from other people ( suppose you would be alone ) and that you were
allowed to take 12 purely synthetic chemical medicines ( I mean usually manufactered exclusively by organic or inorganic chemistry ... so no
penicillin ) with few tools, which chemicals would you chose ?
When I say chemical medicines, I'm not accounting solvents or cleaning devices like water, alcohol etc ...
I know this question is rather pointless but I'm just curious
[Edited on 14-4-2009 by deiki]Saerynide - 14-4-2009 at 10:23
Edit: Come to think of it, I usually go for a year without seeing the doctor anyway, even when I'm sick
[Edited on 4/14/2009 by Saerynide]indigofuzzy - 14-4-2009 at 13:41
Ibuprophen, Oxymetazoline HCL, Bismuth subsalicylate, Povidone Iodine, Hydrogen Peroxide, The 3 active ingredients in antibiotic ointment (which I
don't recall off the top of my head), Dextromethorphan HBr, Acetylsalicylic acid, amoxycillinhissingnoise - 14-4-2009 at 13:49
Some of those compounds are based on naturally-occurring substances. . .nitric - 15-4-2009 at 08:29
O-acetylsalicyclic acid is based on salicyclic acid, iodine is based on KI(seaweed, seawater) thats the ones i can think of off the top of my head for
natural based, but almost everything is based on natural, were do you think we produce the precousors.Sauron - 15-4-2009 at 13:18
Take something lethal. At least you won't be wasting your time dreaming up silly exercises such as this.nitric - 15-4-2009 at 13:31
yep, best to know the escape routestateofhack - 15-4-2009 at 13:34
Take something lethal. At least you won't be wasting your time dreaming up silly exercises such as this.
Listen to this man, and this thread is a pile of crap, really go outside or something panziandi - 15-4-2009 at 13:47
I think many "natural" products can be totally synthesized from scratch! Perhaps something like saxitoxin? Most organic chemicals come from "natural
products" - all petroleum derivatives etc! And I can't think of too many inorganics that are medicines, Lithium Chloride, Potassium Permanganate,
Iodine, Silver Nitrate, Ferric Chloride, Copper Sulphate, Bismuth Nitrate, Calcium Carbonate and Magnesium Oxide... Gone are the days of ThoroTrast!!!hissingnoise - 15-4-2009 at 13:47
It's gallows humour, nitric. . .chemrox - 15-4-2009 at 23:04
whatever possessed you to ask this out loud? the rest of you don't feed this nonsense. Here: treat some castor beans with base ...make a
suppository out of the resultant paste ... and you know where to put it ;^) Elawr - 16-4-2009 at 07:31
acetaminophin, nitroglycerin, dexamethasone, hyoscyamine, cephalexin, ciprofloxacin, furosemide, meperidine, diazepam, diphenhydramate, ketamine, and
(for when all hope is lost...) potassium cyanide.hissingnoise - 16-4-2009 at 07:37
Viagra. . .
In case you meet someone!
[Edited on 16-4-2009 by hissingnoise]smuv - 16-4-2009 at 08:12
Many of the compounds listed cure nothing, they just take away symptoms.
Seeing as I am a healthy person, the only medicines my life would depend on would be to treat a severe allergic reaction. Everything else just makes
you feel good and really does nothing. Therefore I think I could go w/ 2...
---One that I might include, that wouldn't really be life saving...---
Prednisone (I hope this isn't naturally derived) Just in case I get poison ivy..ugh
P.S. The experience of IM injections of benedryl/adrenaline is a really strange experience. An anti-alergenic speed ball if you will. Adrenaline
causes your muscles to twitch all over the place and for you physically to feel very stimulated without any notable mental effects. Benadryl on the
other hand causes you to feel sleepy and lethargic. ODD COMBO!
[Edited on 4-16-2009 by smuv]Mr. Wizard - 16-4-2009 at 08:15
You might also consider benadryl ( diphenhydramine ), for those itchy allergic things. A simple antibiotic such as a sulfa (Prontosil. Some morphine
sulfate would be a big help for many in pain, coughs, and loose bowels. Ethyl ether might also be on the list if there was to be any DIY surgery.
Chloroform is safer in the sense of fire, but it's safe use an anesthetic is much more difficult than ether. A simple electrolyte replacement powder
might also stave off death when diarrhea hits. Two very common causes of death in the world, malaria and diarrhea. A quinine substitute might be a
great tool, as would a supply of DDT. Lambda-Eyde - 16-4-2009 at 11:19
Chloroform is safer in the sense of fire, but it's safe use an anesthetic is much more difficult than ether.
While chloroform is a good deal more potent than ether and I agree literature states, smooth anaesthesia is more difficult to control, chloroform is
very toxic as an anaesthetic. Chloroform causes much more extreme cardiac sensitization than ether does, additionally chloroform is really bad for
the liver (metabolite: phosgene). In older papers (usually relating to pharmacology of anaesthetics) it was sometimes used to compromise liver
function.Formatik - 16-4-2009 at 13:45
I'd probably want things like sedatives and pain suppressants (diazepam, oxycodone, lidocaine, ibuprofen), antibiotics (doxycycline, metronidazole),
anti-inflammatories (dexamethasone) and the like, see the list of WHO essential medicines here: http://www.who.int/medicines/publications/essentialmedicines... where they also have a core essential list.
) with few tools, which chemicals would you chose ?
