Talk:Atropine

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Contents 1 Mnemonic for Side Effects 2 Hyoscyamine 3 Atropine time of effectiveness 4 So what's the opposite of Atropine? 5 Incorrect or not? 6 Half life 7 Official Indication of Atropine 8 Cleopatra 9 Muscle Spasm 10 good article but layperson-averse

[edit] Mnemonic for Side Effects

It would be helpful is the side effects that this mnemonic references are listed. It is not at all obvious, even given the rest of the article. Also a citation for the quote would be nice, or reference to the presence to a source such as a medical school textbook, would be helpful.

167.80.244.204 13:25, 21 May 2007 (UTC)chevalier3

[edit] Hyoscyamine

I removed this:

It is a racemic mixture of d- and l-hyocyamine.

First, I believe the word is hyoscyamine. Also, I believe hyoscyamine is an alkaloid different from atropine, both being derived from belladonna. AxelBoldt 20:17 Dec 15, 2002 (UTC)

Hyoscyamine comes in two optical isomers (D and L). When people say hyoscyamine they are usually refering to L-hyoscyamine, when people say atropine they are refering to a (racemic) mixture of both D- and L-hyoscyamine. Chemically, atropine and hyoscyamine are the same. Physiologically, most of atropine's effects can be attributed to L-hyoscyamine.Matt 00:38, 19 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Putting hyoscyamine back, because it is an important information. --Mykhal 16:00, 1 Jan 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Atropine time of effectiveness

How does the "effect of atropine [to dilate the pupils] last two or three days" while it's half-life in the body is 2 hours? Is that due to the time it takes to dissociate from the ACh receptors? (version as of 2006 Aug 30, 0600 UTC)

[edit] So what's the opposite of Atropine?

If Atropine is used by eye doctors to dilate the pupils, then what do they use to constrict the pupils?

This is not really necessary. Pilocarpine would antagonise the anticholinergic effects, but atropine lasts much longer; this is why tropicamide is preferred over atropine. JFW | T@lk 16:26, 22 September 2005 (UTC)

Dapiprazole (e.g. Rev-Eyes) is sometimes used to counteract the effects of pupillary dilation to improve visual comfort (i.e. make it easier to drive home after the eye exam). I agree that topical atropine is not preferred as a mydriatic, but it is preferred over tropicamide for other indications. Edwardian 17:57, 22 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Incorrect or not?

I just happened to notice that the "elimination halflife listed" on the side of this Wikipedia page says "2 hours." However, the body of the article states "Atropine degrades slowly, typically wearing off in 2 to 3 days." Is this correct?

[edit] Half life

A half life and degradation time are not the same. Something with a half life of two hours, in the quantity given that wouldn't kill you, would take about two days to fully wear off. The effects would still be present, if rather reduced, during this time.

[edit] Official Indication of Atropine

Isn't the official indication for Atropine anesthetic induction/premedication for surgery? StudentNurse 05:04, 25 February 2006 (UTC).

I'm not a doctor or anything, but I would assume it would be pre-medication for surgery because of it's ability to dry secretions, namely sweat. However, surgeons generally use glycopyrrolate (Robinul, an anticholingeric just like atropine) as pre-medication for secretions. It's their medication of choice because it doesn't cross the blood brain barrier as easily as atropine does. Hope this helps. - Russ

In the old days atropine is used as a premed to produce sedation AND to dry up the secretion. But today in most cases it is used in surgery (by anaesthetists, not surgeons) to treat reflex-mediated bradycardia or used in combination with anticholinesterases (the combination is used at the end of a case to speed up recovery from muscle relaxants). I doubt it is used to dry up sweat though. BTW, atropine is also routinely used by some anaesthetists when doing a rapid sequence induction in paediatric cases. It is to counteract the bradycardic effect of suxamethonium (succinylcholine) which can be very pronounced in the paediatric population. Ld99 12:57, 17 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Cleopatra

The history section says:

Atropine extracts from the Egyptian henbane were used by Cleopatra in the last century B.C. to dilate her pupils, in the hope that she would appear more alluring.

Perhaps a source could be provided or the line deleted. Eric 19:33, 10 April 2006 (UTC)

Atropine, when you get it in a bottle, isn't pure atropine, is it? I think it's worth noting, say, whether it's just plain atropine, or maybe atropine methylnitrate in an aqueous vehicle.

Or maybe it's sold differently between human and veterinary medical markets, I don't know. Still worth noting. Where do you look for this kind of stuff? (Other than Wikipedia.)

I'm sure atropine sulfate is used as a nerve agent antidote. cyclosarin 08:43, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Muscle Spasm

Is Atropine likely to cause muscle spasms when used on small animals? I know this is not a forum, but this is the only font of information I trust. Thank yous Leo McAllister 16:48, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

I've never seen it do so... Dlh-stablelights 16:40, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] good article but layperson-averse

Can't the article be more accessible to a layperson trying to understand this substance? For example, I don't know what a heart block is, although I've heard the term any number of times--and I certainly had no idea of various degrees of this definition. The unexplained use of these terms assumes familiarity by the reader with material known mostly by physicians or biologists. Furthermore, there is no link to help explain, either to wiki or elsewhere. Even if there were, it becomes repressively tiresome to have to gloss every few words. I think further explanations--within the text--of abstruse terminology would go a long way to improving the article. It is my belief that Wiki is for laypeople. Why would a physician or medical student look at Wiki for a better understanding of atropine? For that matter, why would a student or professional chemist or pathologist? Thanks. NaySay 21:28, 11 May 2007 (UTC)

I've tried to add links to relevant articles in the section you mentioned. Fvasconcellos (t·c) 21:50, 11 May 2007 (UTC)

I agree. A number of medical articles on Wiki suffer from this same problem. On the Gunning fog index, this Atropine article has a very poor readability rating. For example, instead of simply saying "eye injury," the article uses the obtuse term "direct globe trauma." How many laypersons, when injured in the eye, call in sick to work and say, "I can't come in today; I experienced direct globe trauma"? --McPoet 02:41, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

I agree Wikipedia should be understandable by lay people, but you are in-correct in saying physicians and medical students would not use wiki for better understanding. Annecdotally, I know for a fact that many such people do (I do and I am a doctor). Of course they (I) always bear in mind that the information needs to be verified.124.182.246.135 (talk) 00:31, 20 May 2008 (UTC)