Combined ScienceCode 5129
Drugs and their effects
What this topic asks you to be able to do
- Describe a drug: any substance that, after entering the body, modifies or affects the chemical reactions going on inside it
- outline how antibiotics are employed to treat infections caused by bacteria
- State that, by using antibiotics only when it is essential, the development of bacteria that resist antibiotics can be kept to a minimum
- outline the consequences of drinking alcohol in large amounts: weaker self-control, acting as a depressant, impact on reaction times, injury to the liver and wider social effects
- Describe the effects that tobacco smoke and its main toxic components (nicotine, tar and carbon monoxide) have: it is strongly associated with bronchitis, emphysema, lung cancer and heart disease, and smoking while pregnant is associated with babies having a reduced birth weight