Which one of the following types of drugs reduces fever?
Important Points to Remember in Chapter 16 - Chemistry in Everyday Life from Embibe Experts Achieve CUET (UG) Chemistry Practice Book Solutions
(i) A drug is a chemical agent, which affects human metabolism and provides cure from ailment. If taken in doses higher than recommended, these may have poisonous effect.
(ii) Use of chemical substances for therapeutic effect is called chemotherapy.
(iii) Drugs usually interact with biological macromolecules such as carbohydrates, proteins, lipids and nucleic acids. These are called target molecules.
2. Chemicals in Medicines:
(i) Analgesics - Relieve Pain – Aspirin, Ibuprofen, etc.
(ii) Antipyretics – Lower Body Temperature - Aspirin and Paracetamol.
(iii) Antiseptic – Kill or prevent growth of microorganisms – Dettol (mixture of chloroxylenol and terpineol), Iodine. These are not harmful on living tissues.
(iv) Disinfectants - Kill or prevent growth of microorganisms. These are harmful for the living tissues. Hence, used on nonliving objects. phenol, Chlorine in the concentration of to in aqueous solution and sulphur dioxide in very low concentrations, are disinfectants.
(v) Tranquilizer: Treatment of stress and mental diseases. Derivatives of barbituric acid viz., veronal, amytal, nembutal, luminal and seconal constitute an important class of tranquilizers.
(vi) Antimicrobial: Cure infections due to microorganisms. Antibiotics and sulphonamides are antimicrobials.
(vii) Antifertility drugs: Birth control. Norethindrone, ethynylestradiol (novestrol) are examples.
(viii) Antibiotics: These are produced by microorganisms and inhibit the growth of other microorganisms – Penicillin, tetracycline, ampicillin, etc.
(ix) Antihistamines: Anti-allergic - Brompheniramine (Dimetapp) and terfenadine (Seldane).
(x) Antacids: Remove excess acid in the stomach Magnesium hydroxide, magnesium carbonate, etc.
3. Chemicals in Food:
(i) Preservatives are added to the food to prevent spoilage due to microbial growth.
Common salt, sodium benzoate, BHA, BHT.
(ii) Artificial sweeteners are used by those who need to check the calorie intake or are diabetic and want to avoid taking sucrose.
(iii) Antioxidants: Prevents or stops oxidation of food. BHA and BHT are antioxidants.
4. Cleansing Agents:
(i) Soaps: Soaps used for cleaning purpose are sodium or potassium salts of long chain fatty acids. Soaps containing sodium salts are formed by heating fat (i.e., glyceryl ester of fatty acid) with aqueous sodium hydroxide solution. This reaction is known as saponification.
(ii) Synthetic detergents: They are sodium salts of long chain alkyl hydrogen sulphates or long chain sulphonic acids. Detergents get preference over soaps because they work even in hard water.
