Morphine Research Paper

Morphine is effective pain medication used in hospitals and prescribed by physicians for the treatment of moderate to severe pain. It is used for treatment for both acute and chronic long term pain management. Morphine is an opiate analgesic derived from opium. Opium is obtained from the natural growing opium poppy plant (papavera somniferum) by scraping the unripe seed capsule, and then collecting and drying the rubbery exudates. Morphine acts directly on the central nervous system to decrease the feeling of pain. Morphine has both positive beneficial effects and negative effects. Tolerance to morphine happens rapidly, requiring more of the drug to achieve the desired pain relief effect and feelings of euphoria make abuse and addiction

rates high. Morphine is a respiratory depressant, and can be dangerous if overdose occurs. There are many derivatives of morphine.
Opium has been around since the beginning of mankind, and possibly before it. The earliest written record of opium as a painkiller can be dated back more than 6000 years ago (as long ago as 3400 B.C.) by the Sumerians, Babylonians and Egyptians. The Sumerians called it “Hul Gil” (joy plant). In 1803 Friedrich Sertuener of Germany synthesized morphine for the first time. The molecular formula for morphine is C17H19NO3. It is made up of Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, and Oxygen. The name Hydrogen comes from the Greek words “hydro” (meaning water) and “genes” (meaning creator). It was named by French chemist Antoine Lavaisier because when it burns, it creates water. Hydrogen is an essential element for life. It is present in water and in almost all living things. However hydrogen does not play a particularly active role. It remains bonded to carbon and oxygen atoms, while the chemistry of life takes place at the more active sites like nitrogen, oxygen and phosphorus.