Introduction
The term sedative includes various drugs that have a calming or activity-reducing effect on the body. Sedatives are also called sedatives (singular: sedative, from the Latin “sedare” = to calm down), hypnotics (sleeping pills), narcotics or tranquilizers (tension-relieving).
Fields of application and effect
Sedatives are used for the therapy of restlessness. This field of application is very comprehensive, as restlessness is an expression of many physical and/or psychological disorders. Anxiety states are also alleviated by sedatives.
Through the effect of the sedatives the conscious perception is damped, which additionally creates a distance to the fears. However, this should not be confused with anxiolysis, the targeted therapy of anxiety. Furthermore, tranquilizers have a sleep-inducing effect.
As a result, when taking tranquilizers there is more fatigue and it is easier to fall asleep. In addition to the therapy of restlessness and anxiety, sedatives are also used in surgical medicine. So-called premedication before the operation relieves the patient because the sedatives reduce the subjective stress for the patient.
Sedatives (tranquilizers) are also necessary during the operation to induce and maintain anesthesia. Sedatives are also used in intensive care units. Many seriously ill patients are accommodated there who are artificially ventilated and can only tolerate such a therapy by sedatives.
Another important field of application of sedatives is emergency medicine. After accidents or traumatic experiences, it is often necessary to provide sedatives to patients who are in shock, restless and/or anxious in order to alleviate the restlessness and anxiety and to make initial medical treatment possible and transport to a hospital easier. In summary, sedatives are used for insomnia, inner restlessness, anxiety, anxiety and panic disorders and for the induction of anaesthesia.
Overview of the different active ingredient groups
It is difficult to make a clear distinction between sedatives, as many drugs have a sedating effect. For many drugs, however, sedation is not the desired effect, but an undesired effect or side effect. Before the different groups of active substances are briefly explained, a brief overview is given of which drugs are counted as sedatives because of their sedating effect: Benzodiazepines, antidepressants, narcotics, barbiturates, neuroleptics, opioids, antihistamines and alpha-2 agonists have sedating effects and are therefore used as sedatives.
Dosage
Sedatives should be carefully dosed and taken only in the amount prescribed by the doctor. Furthermore, many tranquilizers have a so-called “ceiling effect” (saturation effect) if too high doses are taken. This effect describes the fact that despite high doses the effect of the tranquillisers does not occur.
This phenomenon is based on the fact that all receptors are already occupied by the active substance and thus an increase in the active substance can no longer cause an effect, but at most undesirable side effects. However, tolerance can also arise in the context of long-term use of tranquillisers. This tolerance makes it necessary to take larger amounts of the sedative to cause the same reaction. In addition, sedatives can trigger addiction or addiction. Therefore, sedatives should not be discontinued abruptly, but should be eliminated by slowly reducing the dosage.
