science

Paramethadione

Paramethadione is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Paramethadione rather than just read about it. In short: Paramethadione (brand name Paradione) is an anticonvulsant drug of the chemical class called oxazolidinediones developed by the Illinois-based pharmaceutical company Abbott Laboratories (known as AbbVie since January 1, 2013 ), and approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1949 for the treatment of absence seizures, also called partial seizures. In 1960, the yearly cost for 900 mg/day paramethadione was approx…

Key takeaways

Paramethadione belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Paramethadione to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Paramethadione from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Paramethadione (brand name Paradione) is an anticonvulsant drug of the chemical class called oxazolidinediones developed by the Illinois-based pharmaceutical company Abbott Laboratories (known as AbbVie since January 1, 2013 ), and approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1949 for the treatment of absence seizures, also called partial seizures. In 1960, the yearly cost for 900 mg/day paramethadione was approximately $66, which would translate to $462 yearly in 2007 (with CPI inflation) if paramethadione was still sold.

Mechanism of Action Paramethadione acts to reduce T-type calcium currents in thalamic neurons which has been proposed to underlie the 3-Hz spike-and-wave discharge seen on electroencephalogram (EEG) during absence seizures.

Adverse Effects Paramethadione is associated with various adverse effects including sedation, increased visual sensitivity to light, GI distress, edema, nephropathy, neutropenia, myasthenia gravis-like syndrome, fatal aplastic anemia, and severe birth defects known as fetal trimethadione syndrome (or paramethadione syndrome).

History, society, and culture

FDA approval Paramethadione (brand name Paradione) was originally approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1949, as a second-line treatment for petit mal and absence seizures. Paramethadione was ultimately discontinued in 1994 due to safety and efficacy concerns, such as being associated with fetal trimethadione syndrome, which is also known as paramethadione syndrome.

Patents Paramethadione was first patented in 1949 by Abbott Laboratories Abbott Labbortories continued to hold the patent to paramethadione until the approval was withdrawn in 2004 due to the drug no longer being in use.

Clinical Trials In the 1940s trimethadione (brand name Tridione) was the only available treatment for absence seizures. However, while effective, this drug presented with significant adverse effects, which led to the search for an equally effective analog. While limited information is available from the time, a pre-market clinical study found that paramethadione, an analog of trimethadione, was not quite as effective at alleviating seizures as trimethadione, however, it did have a significantly lower side effect profile in 85 patients over the course of 2 years. Notably, 80% of patients still showed a good response to paramethadione.

Chemistry Paramethadione, 5-ethyl-3,5-dimethyloxazolidine-2,4-dione, differs from trimethadione only in the substitution of one methyl group with an ethyl group. It is synthesized in a completely analogous manner, except that it comes from 2-hydroxy-2-methylbutyric acid instead of 2-hydroxyisobutyric acid.

References

External links Diseases Database (DDB): 33106 Hoffman DJ, Chun AH (October 1975). "Paramethadione and metabolite serum levels in humans after a single oral paramethadione dose". Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. 64 (10): 1702–3. doi:10.1002/jps.2600641027. PMID 1185541.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Paramethadione

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Paramethadione claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Paramethadione before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Paramethadione ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Paramethadione

In research: Paramethadione appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Paramethadione in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Paramethadione is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Drugs developed by AbbVie, Oxazolidinediones, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Paramethadione outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Paramethadione in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Paramethadione means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Paramethadione out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Paramethadione in simple terms?

Why does Paramethadione matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Paramethadione?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Paramethadione.