Talk:Anesthesia

Citations and expansion of definition

 * 1) There is a pna noting a lack of citations. Would it be appropriate to cite an episode in which the drug was mentioned? Or would it be proper to briefly describe each drug with a citation at the end?
 * 2) The article states anesthetizing agents were used to induce sleep for medical operations. But in many cases (maybe the majority) they were used to incapacitate enemies. Should we note that or restrict the definition to just their legitimate (ie, intended) use as a medical aid?

--Cepstrum (talk) 17:46, November 24, 2010 (UTC)

Addendum:
 * It might be worth noting that tranquilizers are a related drug class used to calm (and sometimes to induce sleep) patients – or enemies. They're often used to sedate patients (in real life and in-universe), calm them before an operation, or simply to control anxiety and aid sleep. I think they at least deserve a "see also" mention (perhaps along with analgesics, another related drug class).


 * That would be very hard, mentioning each episode in Star Trek where someone was anesthetized. You would have to cite tons of episodes from TOS to ENT and fi you want to, you certainly can.  If anesthetic agents have been used to incapacitate and thus not juts for surgery, and you can find an episode, mention it. But the point of the definition in the first line is to just summarize what anesthesia is. That's all. It is like defining, let's say, milk: You just state what it is in the definition part and then go on elaborating its various uses and applications. Also, it looks like the anesthesia page and sedative page need to be merged.– Distantlycharmed 19:04, November 24, 2010 (UTC)


 * The two are different things, and shouldn't be merged, but there should definitely be some crossover/see also stuff between them. -- sulfur 19:41, November 24, 2010 (UTC)
 * I know they are different things but at first glance there seemed to be some chemicals that overlap. These two articles just need a nice, comprehensive clear rewrite or at least expansion in my opinion. – Distantlycharmed 21:09, November 24, 2010 (UTC)

Drug classes
Thanks for the replies. I've rethought things, and should also clarify:


 * 1) When I mentioned references, I was thinking of just one or two episodes, not every one that used them (ie, just examples). That also goes for an episode cite to show anesthetics were used for surgery, as well as for attacking enemies (eg, ). And now that I've considered it more, the only citations needed are for the initial text, not the drug listings. (Their citations should exist on their own pages.)
 * 2) After looking into the matter further, I think the list is probably fine. What really needs improvement, IMO, is the drug page. Right now it's a listing of drug classes with sub-lists of the respective drugs. For example, why not under the "anesthetics" listing on that page, put a "see also" link to the anesthetics page, where the reader could then find the details and citations about the whole class? The reader could still go directly to the individual drug pages.

It would be a big undertaking (creating or improving drug class articles), but we could try slowly expanding it and see how it looks. A good test would be this (anesthesia) page. I think the steps would be
 * 1) Expanding the intro, add citations (eg, to a couple eps when they were prominently used for surgery, as well as for attacking enemies, such as the ep cited above)
 * 2) Adding some "see also" links (to drugs, eg)
 * 3) Putting a "see also" link to this article in the anesthetic section on the drug page

Should we try it? It'd be doubtless a big project, and if we were all involved, we'd have to coordinate. I think, however, it would be an improvement. Unfortunately, I'm unsure if I'd have the energy (still very, very weak/ill).

Still, so many references/uses of drugs and drug classes exist that I think they each deserve not only a listing in the drug article but their own, brief page as well, such as a short description and citations. When describing the stimulants class, eg, we could just cite – a stimulant played a principal role in that ep. There's no need to cite every ep featuring them.

I look forward to your feedback.

By the way, Sulfur: why did you change my link to gaseous? Was it wrong of me to create a redirect from "gaseous" to "gas"? Just curious. (It was my first redirect effort.)  ;) --Cepstrum  (talk) 15:08, November 25, 2010 (UTC)

PS Forgot to mention the sedative thing. I agree we should note anesthesia is a type of sedative and link. But not all sedatives are anesthetics. --Cepstrum (talk) 15:11, November 25, 2010 (UTC)