O is for Olanzapine 💊 Traditional Cache

#15 Drug Alphabet Series

This series combines two of my favourite "hobbies" - drugs and geocaching. It will inform you about some drugs ie. medicines that you may come across in your lifetime, treating a wide range of medical conditions; and also take you to some interesting places on the Sunshine Coast that you may not have been to before.

Olanzapine (C₁₇H₂₀N₄S) is used to treat schizophrenia and related psychoses, and bipolar disorder. It is an atypical antipsychotic medication that is a dopamine antagonist. It exerts its antipsychotic effect by blocking the transmission of dopamine in various parts of the brain. It also has an action at many other receptors in the body, such as histamine and serotonin, causing many of its side effects. Common side effects include: sedation and metabolic effects, such as hyperglycaemia (increased glucose levels), type 2 diabetes, weight gain and dyslipidaemia (increased cholesterol levels). Smoking tobacco may affect the amount of Olanzapine absorbed into the body, so if a patient starts or stops smoking, their dose may need to be changed. Olanzapine was released onto the market in 1996 as one alternative to the first atypical antipsychotic, Clozapine but with less unfavourable side effects. These new atypical antipsychotics were an improvement on the typical antipsychotics released in the 1950s which treated the positive symptoms of schizophrenia but had minimal effect on the negative symptoms.

The cache is a nano hidden in an area frequented by muggles, particularly those of the dog walking and surfing variety.