Talk:Thalidomide

Clinton Nyström obstetrician and gynaecologist
Both my parents were doctors, my father, Clinton Nyström was an obstetrician and gynaecologist, my mother, Berit Nyström a neurologist. My father was one of the people in the world to speak against the medicine, Thalidomide, when it came out in the 50’s. At the time his reasons were purely theoretical, he had three reasons, long before children were born without arms and legs, (and there were internal invisible growth issues affecting sight, hearing, brain etc.). The first reason why was that he had a genuine deep and wide interest in Chemistry. The second reason was that he was an obstetrician, researching folic acid, looking after pregnant mothers and their babies, so he knew how precious that first developmental stages of growth were. And the third reason that linked the two, he researched into folic acid, that is a vitamin encouraging growth. My pappas theoretical reasons to never prescribe Thalidomide, was based on that the chemical formula being the opposite to the growth formula of folic acid. Pappa felt that his many doctors and professors at the time, belittled his theory, as it was mainly based on a vitamin that very few knew of in the 1950, so he tried to write about Foliac acid, no one took notice, as it was felt that it was nutritional issue, not scientifically valuable. So, when Thalidomide came out It should be remembered that Thalidomide was in the 1950’s the wonder drug, said to be totally harmless. It treated masses of symptoms, like colds, flu, headaches, nausea and morning sickness for example. It had been tested on animals and it was virtually impossible to overdose on it, so because of that in some countries, not Sweden, it could be bought over the counter, and no doctors prescription needed. My mother, mamma, was a neurologist, caring for people with brain diseases. And she was daily asked to prescribe this wonder drug by colleagues and patients, but she refused. Many patients left her because of it. Thalidomide was given to patients across the world for 5-11 years, until an Australian obstetrician William McBride warned in a medical journal, the Lancet, that he had observed a link of multiple severe abnormalities in babies and the use of Thalidomide. The scientific world did learn that due to this scandal, we must not just separately assess one factor, like animal testing to guide our research leading to the development of medicines. Pappa taught me, that if someone, anyone, says something, never disregard it, be curious and ask what the knowledge is based on. Pappa and mamma much later did have a paper accepted on the Biochemistry of Folic acid in January 1967 (by Berit Nyström and Clinton Nyström), as they did feel that they had to justify the use of folic acid biochemically, before any other recommendation, step or future use could be accepted in the scientific world. It also taught me there is a vast mystery and total respect when it comes to growth…. and some chemical substances that unless you are really involved in conception and development, chemistry and folic acid, and my mother would add the brain! It must also be remembered that Thalidomide is still a used medicine against Leprosy and Aids, so even if never ever to be used for a pregnant mother, it is good for other ailments. So even though it should be flagged up as a threat in the gentle environment of growth, it should not be a discarded science. On the Biochemistry of Folic Acid, Acta Obstetricia et Gynacolicia Scandinavia, vol 46, 1967, Berit and Clinton Nyström 91.235.59.80 (talk) 08:49, 16 August 2022 (UTC)

Structure
The structure appears to be wrong with R appearing as S and vice versa. If you check it against the pub chem page it was taken from you can see the structures are the other way around. Not ideal, when the thalidomide scandal was to do with its 2 different enantiomer structures 78.19.29.40 (talk) 19:01, 30 December 2022 (UTC)

Notable cases
I added Christian Lohr to the list of notable cases, who is probably the only national politician with disabilities due to the drug (definitively in Switzerland). I could not find a statement / source to specifically say that he is the only one worldwide but I wouldnt know of any other. This makes him notable in my eyes and he should be added to the list. --hroest 22:35, 6 March 2023 (UTC)

Two points needing change/clarification
1. I'm sure the following sentence made sense to the writer, but it is more than a little confusing to me: "The German company had been established as a soap maker after World War II ended, to address the urgent market need for antibiotics." [Found in the section labelled "History"] How does a soap company fulfil a need for antibiotics? There must be a connection there that I'm not seeing, because to me that's the equivalent of saying 'My children were hungry so I gave them a towel.'

2. In the 'Quality of Life' section, it is stated that many babies born in the early 60's were affected by this drug and the babies who survived to adulthood are now middle-aged. Accoring to information earlier in the article, this drug was used from 1957 to 1962, so the babies affected by this drug are now 62-66 years old. I don't think 'middle-aged' is an accurate description of this age group, since many buinsesses use 55 or 60 the cut off to be considered a senior. 2607:FEA8:AA80:A400:1A0:5006:4E00:3392 (talk) 19:14, 26 May 2024 (UTC)

3. Was confused at "By the mid-1950s, 14 pharmaceutical companies were marketing thalidomide in 46 countries under at least 37 different trade names". If the drug wasn't released until late 1957, such marketing couldnt realistically happen until 1958, hardly "mid 1950s". Suggest change to "late 1950s"