We meet the Purgen medicine at school, although most chemistry teachers are silent about this. The official name for this substance is phenolphthalein.
In chemistry, it is used as an indicator, which is colorless in alkalis, and in acids it changes color from pale pink to raspberry. The older generation used this substance to bluish clothes and to get rid of constipation. They called this substance: "Purgen." A laxative of any kind is now often called just that word.
Why is the medicine left in the past?
The drug entered into many anecdotes for a reason. He was called the best cough suppressant because the action of the Purgen medication (laxative and not only) occurred very quickly and sometimes suddenly. The drug does not dissolve in the stomach: only in the intestine under the influence of acids. 85% of it moves through the intestines with food, 15% enters the bloodstream. Not all the drug is excreted in the urine: part of it enters the liver again. This is what causes the sharp uncontrolled effect of the drug, lasting 3-4 days. This was one of the reasons why doctors began to abandon the Purgen medication: the laxative effect lasted too long, sometimes leading to dehydration.
Taking the drug in many caused many side effects: vomiting, nausea, severe dizziness. Cases of colic, cardiac arrhythmias, even collapse have been reported.
Finishing touch
However, the inconvenience of use and the mass of side effects did not cause a complete rejection of the Purgen composition. Laxative, the price of which was within a few kopecks, for many years was popular not only among the people, but also among professional physicians. Until 1999, American researchers found that drinking phenolphthalein leads to cancer. Purgen is a laxative (instructions explain it) based on phenolphthalein. He carries another 14 trade names in the medical world. The chemical adversely affects the liver, even with a single dose.
With frequent use of the medicine, the patient risks getting complications such as nervous diseases,
liver cancer, kidney
cancer , epilepsy, tachycardia, etc. That is why in 2002, almost all countries withdrew the medicine “Purgen” from sale. The laxative is now recommended not on the basis of phenolphthalein, but on the basis of plant extracts:
senna grass, walnut oil, etc.
What is phenolphthalein needed for?
The medicine "Purgen" is a laxative. In chemistry, a substance is used to recognize an acidic or alkaline environment. In the 50s and 60s of the twentieth century, housewives dissolved the tablet in water, and then rinsed the laundry in it. It was believed that so white can be given a pleasant shade. With a very low quality of bleaching and bluing agents, this was relevant. Pioneer camps used pills for very evil jokes. Today, most countries of the world have banned not only the production of this drug, but also the addition of phenolphthalein to any formulations intended for oral administration. As a laxative, they recommend drugs not on a chemical, but on a plant basis.