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vitiligo

(Encyclopedia)vitiligo, condition that causes irregular patches of skin to lose pigment and turn white. The exact cause is unknown, but it occurs when the immune system attacks and destroys melanocytes, the cells t...

steroids

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Two examples of steroids steroids, class of lipids having a particular molecular ring structure called the cyclopentanoperhydro-phenanthrene ring system. Steroids differ from one another in th...

Kelsey, Frances Oldham

(Encyclopedia)Kelsey, Frances Oldham, 1914–2015, Canadian-American pharmacologist, b. Cobble Hill, British Columbia, as Frances Kathleen Oldham, grad. McGill Univ. (B.Sc. 1934, M.Sc. 1935), Univ. of Chicago (Ph.D...

isoniazid

(Encyclopedia)isoniazid īˌsōnīˈəzĭd [key], drug used to treat tuberculosis. Also known as isonicotinic acid hydrazide, isoniazid is the most effective antituberculosis drug currently available. The drug inhi...

addiction

(Encyclopedia)addiction: see drug addiction and drug abuse. ...

methadone

(Encyclopedia)methadone mĕthˈədōnˌ, –dŏnˌ [key], synthetic narcotic similar in effect to morphine. Synthesized in Germany, it came into clinical use after World War II. It is sometimes used as an analgesic...

Black, Sir James Whyte

(Encyclopedia)Black, Sir James Whyte, 1924–2010, Scottish pharmacologist, M.B., Ch.B. Univ. of St. Andrews, 1946. A drug researcher, he held a series of posts with universities and drug companies before serving a...

thalidomide

(Encyclopedia)thalidomide thəlĭdˈəmĭdˌ [key], sleep-inducing drug found to produce skeletal defects in developing fetuses. The drug was marketed in Europe, especially in West Germany and Britain, from 1957 to...

LSD

(Encyclopedia)LSD or lysergic acid diethylamide līˌsûrˈjĭk, dīˌĕthˈələmĭd, dīˌĕthəlămˈĭd [key], alkaloid synthesized from lysergic acid, which is found in the fungus ergot (Claviceps purpurea). I...

Antabuse

(Encyclopedia)Antabuse ănˈtəbyo͞os [key], trade name for the drug tetraethylthiuram disulfide, used in the treatment of alcoholism. Also called sulfiram, Antabuse is nontoxic, but it alters the metabolism of al...