Medical Uses of Abused Drugs Infographic

In all the exciting moonlighting that I do when not dedicating myself slavishly to this blog, I stumbled into a gig on a drug database site.

Don’t ask.

Anyway, I had just finished work on the post, “Most Abused Prescription Drugs In the US,” noting that not one but two psychiatric drugs made the cut of the Top Five, when I came across one of my favorite items–an infographic that actually has something to do with what I’m writing about.

I mean, how often do you come across such a professionally-designed visual that tells you barbiturates were put to good use in treating anxiety, and that cocaine is really quite helpful as a vasoconstrictive agent? Not plain every day, I assure you.

It’s fascinating, too, in this information age, how this new graphic actually become dated by the research on bipolar disorder that’s just coming out.

The infographic addresses the use of ketamine, a hallucinogenic, as an anesthetic. But the research was published in 2012 that ketamine–although not yet approved–has a 79% success rate in lifting bipolar depression within minutes. [It’s got a major downside, too, I must confess–it only works for 3-days. It’s a little like Aladdin’s genie–fickle.]

But before I talk it to death, take a look, see what mushrooms or GHB or heroin might be used for.

However, before this goes too far, remember that I just enjoyed the infographic and the information and wanted to share it with you.

This is not an endorsement of any of these drugs. I wouldn’t know a thing about them. I was the king of not inhaling before former President Bill Clinton even thought of it.

Via: Medical Billing and Coding Guide