What Is MAC Anesthesia?
MAC (methocarbamol) is a benzodiazepine used for pain relief. It is commonly known as barbiturates or sleeping pills. It was first developed in the 1930’s and it became popular during World War II when they were given to soldiers to keep them awake during their missions. Since then, it has been used in medicine for many purposes such as anxiety, depression, seizures, insomnia and even cancer treatment.
The drug is not considered dangerous but it does have some side effects. Most of these are mild and go away within a few days. However, there are rare cases where the drug causes severe problems like death. These events happen because of the way it works or because of other drugs taken with it. Also, sometimes people take too much of the drug which leads to withdrawal symptoms after using it once.
How Does Mac Anesthesia Work?
Mac anesthesia works by blocking the activity of certain brain chemicals called GABA receptors. This means that it blocks the action of GABA at those particular receptors. When this happens, your brain stops firing off signals to other parts of your body. Your muscles don’t relax and you stop moving in any way. You may feel drowsy or sleepy, but you won’t fall asleep or become confused from the drug effect itself.
The drug also acts as a muscle relaxant by preventing acetylcholine from binding to its receptors. This means that you will not feel pain or be able to move normally. Normally, if you were to break your arm for example, your brain would release chemicals that would make you feel pain. This is so your body can protect itself and heal itself even if the injury is serious.
Sources & references used in this article:
Anesthetic potency (MAC) is independent of forebrain structures in the rat by IJ Rampil, P Mason, H Singh – … : The Journal of …, 1993 – anesthesiology.pubs.asahq.org
Anesthetic doses blocking adrenergic (stress) and cardiovascular responses to incision—MAC BAR by MF Roizen, RW Horrigan… – … : The Journal of …, 1981 – anesthesiology.pubs.asahq.org
The anesthetic potency of fentanyl in terms of its reduction of enflurane MAC by MR Murphy, CC Hug – Anesthesiology: The Journal …, 1982 – anesthesiology.pubs.asahq.org
Systemic distribution of blood flow in swine while awake and during 1.0 and 1.5 MAC isoflurane anesthesia with or without 50% nitrous oxide by G Lundeen, M Manohar, C Parks – Anesthesia & Analgesia, 1983 – journals.lww.com
