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A medication's "half-life" is a simple standard of reference. It assists prescribing physicians/PA's/NP's in comparing the length of time medications remain active and effective in the body. This elapsed time often influences a prescriber's choice of medication based on individual patient need. The term comes from the length of time it takes for half of the original dose of the drug to remain in the patient's bloodstream. One example of this is the comparitively long half-life of the older tranquilizer Valium (diazepam) vs. the very short half-life of Xanax (alprazolam) a much newer tranquilizer which has become widely prescribed due in part to its fast-acting, yet quickly subsiding effect.

I'm not a doctor but I play one on the internet..

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13y ago

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