Drug Dependence
Beginning of paper
In order for a chemical to be considered a drug it must have the capacity to
affect how the body works--to be biologically active. No substance that has the
power to do this is completely safe, and drugs are approved only after they
demonstrate that they are relatively safe when used as directed, a ....
Middle of paper
.... Drugs are
tested on at most a few thousand people. When that same drug is taken by
millions, some people may not respond in a predictable way to the drug. A person
who has a so-called idiosyncratic response to a particular sedative, for example,
may become excited rather than relaxed. Others may be hypersensitive, or
extremely sensitive, to certain drugs, suffering reactions that resemble
allergies.
A patient may also acquire a tolerance for a certain drug. This means that
ever-larger ....
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Word count: 402
Page count: 2 (approximately 250 words per page)
