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hydroxychloroquine
[hahy-drok-si-klawr-uh-kween, -kwin]
noun
a colorless crystalline solid, C 18 H 26 ClN 3 O, used in the treatment of malaria, lupus erythematosus, and rheumatoid arthritis. HCQ
Word History and Origins
Origin of hydroxychloroquine1
Example Sentences
“The FDA’s war on public health is about to end,” he wrote, decrying the agency’s “aggressive suppression” of such worthless anti-COVID nostrums as ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine.
Both ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine were held up as miracle cures for Covid but such claims have not been supported by science.
He suggested injecting bleach to fight COVID, recommended people take the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, which had not shown to be safe, and encouraged people to protest social distancing restrictions.
And when that became clear, that’s when we started talking about hydroxychloroquine, which also was something that had no basis in science.”
Dr. Fauci wrote that when Mr. Trump embraced hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug, as a Covid treatment on the basis of anecdotal evidence, he realized that “sooner or later I would have to refute him publicly.”
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When To Use
Hydroxychloroquine is a drug used to prevent and treat malaria. It is also used in the treatment of certain inflammatory autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis and a form of lupus.As an antimalarial drug, hydroxychloroquine was first synthesized in the 1940s. By the 1950s, the drug was proven to be effective in treating the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. Hydroxychloroquine remains an important way of controlling lupus in patients to this day.In the U.S., a prescription is needed for the drug, which is taken orally in the form of a hydroxychloroquine sulfate tablet. Plaquenil is a brand-name preparation of hydroxychloroquine.Hydroxychloroquine can have a number of side effects, including disruptions in heart rhythms and retinal damage. Less severe side effects include skin rash, nausea, and mood changes. It can also interact with other drugs, including antacids and insulin.Hydroxychloroquine is closely related to chloroquine, another antimalarial drug (sold under the brand name Aralen). Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine are included in the World Health Organization’s list of essential medicines.Both substances are chemically derived from quinoline, a pungent, colorless liquid occurring in coal tar and used to make dyes, among other uses. And while both can have similar side effects, hydroxychloroquine is considered less toxic than chloroquine.Dig deeperThe chemical formula for hydroxychloroquine is C18H26ClN3O. Hydroxychloroquine is sometimes abbreviated as HCQ.Hydroxychloroquine is composed of hydroxy-, a combining form indicating that the hydroxyl group (a type of bond between oxygen and hydrogen) is present in a chemical compound, and chloroquine. Chloroquine, in turn, is composed of chloro-, used in the names of chemical compounds where chlorine is present, and quin(ol)ine.Now, here’s a word origin you might not have suspected: quinine and quinoline both ultimately derive from the Quechua kina, meaning “bark.” Formerly used against malaria, quinine is present in the bark of various cinchona trees and shrubs, which are native to the Andes. Quechua is an indigenous language of South America, where cinchona bark was originally found.
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