Are You Suffering From Smurf Syndrome? Take Dr. Dagger’s Medication Side Effect Quiz
Written by Kendra · Filed Under At Large, The World
March 25, 2008 | Print this post
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You’ve seen it before. An elderly couple sitting on the beach, holding hands, gazing at the sunset, reveling in their restored health thanks to a few magic pills. The tone of the narrator changes as he starts rattling off side effects for the newest wonder drug at blazing speeds.
“…can cause a very disfiguring blue-grey discoloration of the skin, generally in areas of sun exposure, and that gradually worsens over a period of years. It is not clear that this “smurf syndrome” clears up when the drug is stopped. In younger patients this side effect can be devastating.”
Did you catch all that? Think you know your pharmacology? Take the quiz below to see how you match up with other DaggerPress.com readers.
Be sure to tell us how you did in the comments section below!
I got 100%!!!!! Of course, I helped create and test the quiz…
Sorry, the quiz was having some technical problems in Internet Explorer. Please try again!
Okay I got a 40%…that’s the equivalent to my NCAA brackets
The less I have to know abut meds the better off I am.
I’m with Molly at 40%. Can someone please explain the biology behind the “urge to gamble”?
0%
Cindy- Requip being a dopamine agonist, was primarily prescribed for Parkinson’s patients then the secondary use for RLS came into play. Most of the patients that suffer from the increased compulsions, like hypersexuality and gambling are indeed Parkinson’s patients and are also currently taking another dopamine increasing type medication.
The reasonable explanation is shown through studies that examined when you increase dopamine in a person that has a HISTORY of impulsiveness and compulsions- they will revert back to that behavior and ten fold. It is easily managed and reversed by altering the dose of medication and simply examining what could be interacting among other medications taken.
Hope that helps!