“You should not have given her the Librium!”

Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #14195
    TEDDY HEADSPIN
    Participant

    One part of the novel has always mystified me, given that I have only a rudimentary knowledge of medicines and the human heart…

    The demon vows to kill Regan by depriving her body of sleep, eventually inducing a heart attack. If so, why does Karras administering such an excessive dosage of the tranquillizer work in its favour? Is it because the body fighting such a high amount of Librium will hasten cardiac arrest even faster due to physical stress?

    #27641
    granville1
    Participant

    Good question and I never quite “got” it. Maybe Sof can pitch in here – she knows the book by memory and may just have the perfect answer.

    #27643
    TEDDY HEADSPIN
    Participant

    Ahh, it seems Librium increases heart rate with a standard dosage, so the massive amount Karras pumped Regan with would indeed put her at near-certainty of a cardiac arrest if the demon kept her body awake…

     

    http://doublecheckmd.com/Effec…..8;eid=4572

     

    Librium may cause fast pulse/rapid heart rate (rare).

     

    Question is: was such knowledge available when Blatty researched the drug? Must have been.

    #27644
    granville1
    Participant

    Thanks for the research = yeah, apparently Blatty consulted current medical knowledge when he introduced the Librium crisis.

    #27645
    Sofia
    Participant

    granville1 said:

    Good question and I never quite “got” it. Maybe Sof can pitch in here – she knows the book by memory and may just have the perfect answer.

    Thank you, :)) but I wouldn't know the answer to this  one. 😉

    #27646
    granville1
    Participant

    Okay – thanks, Sof.

Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.