Editing Muscle relaxant (section)

==History==
The earliest known use of muscle relaxant drugs was by natives of the [[Amazon Basin]] in South America who used [[poison]]-tipped [[arrow]]s that produced death by skeletal muscle paralysis. This was first documented in the 16th century, when European explorers encountered it. This poison, known today as [[curare]], led to some of the earliest scientific studies in [[pharmacology]]. Its active ingredient, [[tubocurarine]], as well as many synthetic derivatives, played a significant role in scientific experiments to determine the function of [[acetylcholine]] in [[neuromuscular transmission]].<ref name="MillerRD">{{cite book |last=Miller |first=R.D. |chapter=Skeletal Muscle Relaxants |editor-first=B.G. |editor-last=Katzung |title=Basic & Clinical Pharmacology |publisher=Appleton & Lange |year=1998 |isbn=0-8385-0565-1 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/basicclinicalph100katz/page/434 434–449] |edition=7th |chapter-url-access=registration |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/basicclinicalph100katz/page/434 }}</ref> By 1943, neuromuscular blocking drugs became established as muscle relaxants in the practice of [[anesthesia]] and [[surgery]].<ref name="BowmanWC">{{cite journal |pmid=16402115 |doi=10.1038/sj.bjp.0706404 |volume=147 |title=Neuromuscular block |pmc=1760749 |date=January 2006 |journal=Br. J. Pharmacol. |pages=S277–86 |author=Bowman WC|issue=Suppl 1 }}</ref>

The U.S. [[Food and Drug Administration]] (FDA) approved the use of [[carisoprodol]] in 1959, [[metaxalone]] in August 1962, and [[cyclobenzaprine]] in August 1977.<ref name="Brief History">{{cite web |url=http://www.emedexpert.com/compare/muscle-relaxers.shtml |title=Brief History |access-date=2010-07-09}}</ref>

Other skeletal muscle relaxants of that type used around the world come from a number of drug categories and other drugs used primarily for this indication include [[orphenadrine]] (anticholinergic), [[chlorzoxazone]], [[tizanidine]] ([[clonidine]] relative), [[diazepam]], [[tetrazepam]] and other [[benzodiazepines]], [[mephenoxalone]], [[methocarbamol]], [[dantrolene]], [[baclofen]].<ref name="Brief History"/> Drugs once but no longer or very rarely used to relax skeletal muscles include [[meprobamate]], [[barbiturates]], [[methaqualone]], [[glutethimide]] and the like; some subcategories of opioids have muscle relaxant properties, and some are marketed in combination drugs with skeletal and/or smooth muscle relaxants such as whole [[opium]] products, some [[ketobemidone]], [[piritramide]] and [[fentanyl]] preparations and [[Equagesic]].