PSYC 181 Midterm: Types of Amphetamine
Document Summary
Part of a group of drugs called sympathomimetic amines. Mimics the effect of the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight response: naturally-occurring compounds. Cathinone legal in israel, kenya, and oman. Active agent in khat (shrub) used to wake you up, like caffeine. Chewed, but not strong enough to get addicted. When modern medicine gets a hold of it and extracts and concentrates it/modifies it into something more potent, then it becomes a problem: synthetic version: meth-cathinone. Ephedrine from ma huang (herbal tea for colds/asthma) isolated i(cid:374) the (cid:1005)9(cid:1006)(cid:1004)"s as a (cid:271)ro(cid:374)(cid:272)hodilator for asth(cid:373)a. Pseudoephedrine is an isomer of ephedrine: similar function, but weaker. Structure similar to epinephrine: mimic action of endogenous transmitters. Phenylethylamine (pea): also, a transmitter: chemical structure similar to phenylephrine. Used as weak cold medicine to increase blood pressure and shrink blood vessels and open up airways so you can breathe.
