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Metals in medicine are used in organic systems for diagnostic and treatment purposes. [1] Inorganic elements are also essential for organic life as cofactors in enzymes called metalloproteins . When metals are under or over-abundant in the body, equilibrium must be returned to its natural state via interventional and natural methods.
The medical uses of silver include its use in wound dressings, creams, and as an antibiotic coating on medical devices. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] Wound dressings containing silver sulfadiazine or silver nanomaterials may be used to treat external infections.
Metal toxicity or metal poisoning is the toxic effect of certain metals in certain forms and doses on life. Some metals are toxic when they form poisonous soluble compounds. Certain metals have no biological role, i.e. are not essential minerals, or are toxic when in a certain form. [ 1 ]
Carboplatin, an example of a metallopharmaceutical. A metallopharmaceutical is a drug that contains a metal as an active ingredient. [1] [2] Most commonly metallopharmaceuticals are used as anticancer or antimicrobial agents. The efficiency of metallopharmaceuticals is crucially dependent on the respective trace metal binding forms. [3]
The use of gold compounds has decreased since the 1980s because of numerous side effects and monitoring requirements, limited efficacy, and very slow onset of action. Most chemical compounds of gold, including some of the drugs discussed below, are not salts, but are examples of metal thiolate complexes.
For example, arsenopyrite, a common impurity in gold- and copper-containing ores, liberates arsenic trioxide upon heating in air. The processing of such minerals has led to numerous cases of poisonings, [ 22 ] and after the mine is closed, the leftover trioxide waste will present environmental hazard (as was the case with the Giant Mine , for ...
Chemical fabrication, mining, medicine, and related professional fields are examples of occupations where chemical burns may occur. Hydrofluoric acid leaches into the bloodstream, reacts with calcium and magnesium, and the resulting salts can cause cardiac arrest after eating through skin.
It is often used together with other medications for anesthesia. [2] Common uses include during childbirth, following trauma, and as part of end-of-life care. [2] Onset of effect is typically within half a minute, and the effect lasts for about a minute. [1] Nitrous oxide was discovered between 1772 and 1793 and used for anesthesia in 1844. [3]