It seems like the more potent a drug/medication is, the more risks are involved with it, where as drugs with very little risk don’t help nearly as much.
In: Biology
The body has a limited set of tools to interact with. Some tissues and organs use the same tool in different ways. While one organ may take a screwdriver to tighten screws, another may use it to pry things, while one more may use it to poke holes.
When a doctor diagnoses someone with a few screws loose, the doctor could have the patient take a medicine that gives more screwdrivers. Sure that helps the one organ manage to tighten screws but the other organs, now with more screwdrivers, will start to pry more things and poke more holes. These unintended effects are side effects.
A real life example is the body’s response to opoids. Opoids are used as powerful painkillers because they imitate other chemicals in the body that block receptors that transfer the pain response to the brain. The same chemicals also trigger your gut to push your digested food down and out! One side effect of opoids is constipation. The drug brand Imodium, an anti diarrhea medicine, is actually an oral opoid that helps stop your gut from pushing too much. It’s dose is not high enough to cause the pain relief for the brain but people have tried abusing it this way.
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