Lesson plan
Phenindamine
Phenindamine (Nolahist, Thephorin) is an antihistamine and anticholinergic closely related to cyproheptadine. It was developed by Hoffman-La Roche in the late 1940s. It is used to treat symptoms of the common cold and allergies, such as sneezing, itching, rashes, and hives. Its efficacy against some symptoms of opioid withdrawal was researched in the 1950s and 1960s in a number of countries; William S. Burroughs' book Junkie mentions this technique. Like many other first-generation antihistamines, phenindamine has useful potentiating effects on many narcotic analgesics and is even more useful with those opioids which release histamine when in the body. Nolahist was originally manufactured in the US by Carnrick Laboratories, and later by Amarin Pharmaceuticals. When that company ceased its American operations, its product line was acquired by Valeant, but they declined to resume manufacturing Nolahist. The last produced lot bore an expiration date of 10/2005, and the product is no longer available. Phenindamine does exhibit optical isomerism as do other chemicals of its general type ranging from pethidine and alphaprodine to cyproheptadine.
Article summary
Phenindamine (Nolahist, Thephorin) is an antihistamine and anticholinergic closely related to cyproheptadine. It was developed by Hoffman-La Roche in the late 1940s. It is used to treat symptoms of the common cold and allergies, such as sneezing, itching, rashes, and hives. Its efficacy against some symptoms of opioid withdrawal was researched in the 1950s and 1960s in a number of countries; William S. Burroughs' book Junkie mentions this technique. Like many other first-generation antihistamines, phenindamine has useful potentiating effects on many narcotic analgesics and is even more useful with those opioids which release histamine when in the body. Nolahist was originally manufactured in the US by Carnrick Laboratories, and later by Amarin Pharmaceuticals. When that company ceased its American operations, its product line was acquired by Valeant, but they declined to resume manufacturing Nolahist. The last produced lot bore an expiration date of 10/2005, and the product is no longer available. Phenindamine does exhibit optical isomerism as do other chemicals of its general type ranging from pethidine and alphaprodine to cyproheptadine.
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Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.