• What does anterograde amnesia mean and which drugs can cause this effect?

Anterograde amnesia means that a patient will experience short-term memory loss during the working time of the drug, from absorption to excretion. Drugs that can cause effect include Midazolam, Triazolam and Temazepam.

• Name the effects of the sedative-hypnotic drugs on the normal sleep pattern and explain their significance to the patient.

Sedative-hypnotic drugs, especially Benzodiazepines reduces the time it takes to fall asleep and increases the total sleep time. It increases the time of Stage 2 NREM sleep and causes a small reduction in REM sleep. It also decreases the span of Stage 4 NREM sleep.

• Which of the sedative-hypnotic drugs are used as a supplementary therapy in anaesthesia?  Can you explain why?

Anterograde amnesia- causing sedative-hypnotics are often used supplementary to anaesthesia with the purpose to disable a patient’s memory of the procedure and is therefore the reason that people waking up from anaesthesia can’t remember anything from the procedure. An example of a drug used often for this purpose is Midazolam.

• Which of the sedative-hypnotic drugs are used as anticonvulsants?

Phenobarbitone is used in conjunction with BDs as an anticonvulsant. Other drugs used for this purpose are Thiopentone, Nitrazepam, Clobazam, Clonazepam.

• What is the mechanism of the muscle-relaxing effects of some of the carbamates and the BDs?

Some carbamates and BDs, such as Diazepam and Meprobamate has skeletal muscle relaxing properties due to their ability to inhibit polysynaptic reflexes.

• Discuss the effects of the sedative-hypnotic drugs on the respiratory and cardiovascular systems.

Therapeutic doses of sedative-hypnotic drugs cause a significant suppression in pulmonary and cardiovascular disease. However, when the dosages exceed the therapeutic dose it cause suppression of the medullary respiratory centre in the brain which ultimately causes death.