Morphine Essay

1608 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The uses of medical morphine essay

Opioids are a group of drugs that act as pain relievers. Morphine and Codeine are the most well-known of these opioids. Morphine is administered in hospitals and is used to treat extreme pain, generally after surgery. Opioids are also native to our body, the ones we produce are known as endorphins. When an opioid is released into the body, it binds to opioid receptors, these reduce nerve transmission and therefore reduce pain and to a lesser extent, emotions. Over time the body will develop a dependence on opioids and will react badly when they are removed. (AUS pain management association)

The Metabolization of Morphine and Heroin in the Body
Morphine is a common opioid and is sometimes prescribed as a commercial painkiller in the case of …show more content…

(Addiction center) Morphine and Heroin both metabolize differently in the body. Morphine bonds to opioid receptors whereas heroin works by decomposing into active metabolites which produce the ‘high’ effect (as described below).
Morphine in the blood stream will mainly bond to µ (m) and κ (k) opioid receptors. µ receptors are responsible for several of the drugs effects including analgesia and euphoria, whereas κ receptors are responsible for sedation and also partly analgesia. Another kind of opioid receptor, the δ (d) receptor, also has the same effects as the µ and κ receptors, but to a lesser extent. Morphine has a biological half life of 1 and a half (intravenously) to 7 hours (long release medication, such as pain relief tablets).
Heroin does not react strongly with the opioid receptors and instead is metabolized into morphine and 6-acetylmorhpine by the enzymes CES1 and CES2 (Carboxylesterase); these metabolites are then metabolized in a similar manner to morphine and both react on the µ, κ and δ opioid receptors. Because the biological half life of heroin is only 6 to 25 minutes, this process is very rapid. (National highway traffic safety …show more content…

(2005). Erowid.org. Retrieved 12 March 2017, from https://erowid.org/archive/rhodium/chemistry/heroinmfg.html
Hogshire, J. (2004). Opium - Poppy Cultivation, Morphine and Heroin Manufacture. Erowid.org. Retrieved 12 March 2017, from https://erowid.org/archive/rhodium/chemistry/opium.html intermolecular bonding - hydrogen bonds. (2017). Chemguide.co.uk. Retrieved 12 March 2017, from http://www.chemguide.co.uk/atoms/bonding/hbond.html intermolecular bonding - van der Waals forces. (2017). Chemguide.co.uk. Retrieved 12 March 2017, from http://www.chemguide.co.uk/atoms/bonding/vdw.html
Kaplan, M. (2014). CND: Glucuronidation. Anapsid.org. Retrieved 12 March 2017, from http://www.anapsid.org/cnd/hormones/glucuronidation.html
London Dispersion Forces. (2017). Chem.purdue.edu. Retrieved 12 March 2017, from https://www.chem.purdue.edu/gchelp/liquids/disperse.html
Morphine Addiction and Abuse - Opiate Painkiller Addiction. (2016). Addiction Center. Retrieved 12 March 2017, from https://www.addictioncenter.com/painkillers/morphine/
Opioids. (2017). Painmanagement.org.au. Retrieved 12 March 2017, from

Show More
Related

  • Suboxone Therapy

    1579 Words  | 4 Pages

    Almost one hundred years ago, prescription drugs like morphine were available at almost any general store. Women carried bottles of very addictive potent opiate based pain killers in their purse. Many individuals like Edgar Allen Poe died from such addictions. Since that time through various federal, state and local laws, drugs like morphine are now prescription drugs; however, this has not stopped the addiction to opiate based pain killers. Today’s society combats an ever increasing number of very deadly addictive drugs from designer drugs to narcotics to the less potent but equally destructive alcohol and marijuana. With all of these new and old drugs going in and out of vogue with addicts, it appears that the increase of misuse and abuse is founded greater in the prescription opiate based painkillers.

    Read More

  • Heroin and Morphine

    867 Words  | 2 Pages

    Where did this drug come from and what makes it different from any other drug that is on the market? Heroin's origins go back long before Christ was a bleep on the radar. It goes back to 1200 B.C. Or the Bronze Age. At that time how ever heroin would be known as its chemically altered state of the poppy seeds. Even at that time however the ancient peoples of that time knew that if the poppy seeds juice were collected and dried. the extract that was left behind could make a effective painkiller. This would later be named opium. There were small incidents of it appearing in Europe, for instance it was used by the gladiators in the Roman Colosseum. But as a whole it would take more then a millennium for opium to travel from the Middle East to the Europe. This only occurred do to crusades. In just a few hundred after that is went from a rarely used painkiller to a liquid that was said to cure all aliments and would even lead to the most humiliating defeat China Empire. In the 1803 opium became dwarfed by its new brother morphine which is named in honor of the Greek god Morpheus who is the god of dreams. Morphine is an extract of opium and is ruffly 10 times the strength of its counter part. After Morphine creation it was put to used almost at once to assist battle field victims. This was a mistake however, because this refined does of opium is also 10 times more addicting then it was in its original form. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers would retur...

    Read More

  • Persuasive Speech Outline On Opioids

    922 Words  | 2 Pages

    By the year 2000 opioid medicine containing oxycodone etc., are being abused and misused and more than doubled in 10 years’ time.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Opioids

    1011 Words  | 3 Pages

    Opioids are used as pain relievers and although it does the job, there are adverse side effects. Opioids are frequently used in the medical field, allowing doctors to overprescribe their patients. The substance can be very addicting to the dosage being prescribed to the patient. Doctors are commonly prescribing opioids for patients who have mild, moderate, and severe pain. As the pain becomes more severe for the patient, the doctor is more likely to increase the dosage. The increasing dosages of the narcotics become highly addicting. Opioids should not be prescribed as pain killers, due to their highly addictive chemical composition, the detrimental effects on opioid dependent patients, the body, and on future adolescents. Frequently doctors have become carless which causes an upsurge of opioids being overprescribed.

    Read More

  • The Negative Effects Of Prescription Opioids By Adam Zyglis

    948 Words  | 2 Pages

    Opioids are prescribed to help people; prescription opioids can be used to treat moderate-to-severe pain and are often prescribed following surgery or injury, or for health conditions such as cancer (Prescription Opioids). When taken as directed, opioids are safe and effective treatment options for relieving debilitating chronic pain (Highsmith). Doctors have a screening protocol they follow before prescribing an opioid. Doctors ask patients about their past to see if any substance abuse was present, to rule out patients with a higher risk of becoming addicted to prescription opioids. Nonetheless, if the medication is used as directed, not only is your risk of addiction minimal, the odds of enjoying a better quality of life will be in your favor (Highsmith).

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Opioids

    1523 Words  | 4 Pages

    According to CDC in the year 2015 opioids played a part in 33,091 deaths. Now you may ask what an opioid is. An Opioid is a compound that binds to opioid receptors in the body to reduce the amount of pain. There are four main categories of opioids, one being natural opioid analgesics including morphine and codeine, and semi synthetic opioid analgesics, including oxycodone, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, and oxymorphone. The second category being methadone, a synthetic opioid, the third category being synthetic opioid analgesics other than methadone includes tramadol and fentanyl. The last category is an illicit opioid that is synthesized from morphine called heroin.

    Read More

  • Opioids Essay

    825 Words  | 2 Pages

    Eighty percent of heroin users say that their opioid use began with the use of opioids. pain relievers. These same individuals say that they have switched to heroin use. because it is less expensive.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On The Opioid Crisis

    1170 Words  | 3 Pages

    In medical school/pharmacology school, medical professionals are taught to treat severe pain with opioids. However, opioids should be prescribed with the possibility of future dependency in mind. Physicians often struggle with whether they should prescribe opioids or seek alternative methodologies. This ethical impasse has led may medical professionals to prescribe opioids out of sympathy, without regard for the possibility of addiction (Clarke). As previously stated, a way to address this is use alternative methods so that physicians will become more acquainted to not not treating pain by means of opioid

    Read More

  • Narcotics Anonymous Research Paper

    1910 Words  | 4 Pages

    Substance addiction is becoming an epidemic. While some people can quit using a substance without any help, most people need help to their recovery. Narcotics anonymous is an important support group for our society. There are many different narcotic anonymous programs to join that have meetings throughout the week. The members of the support group all share one thing in common, they suffer from different types of chemical dependency. Members help each other because they have the same problems and worries that everyone in the room has. Though they may be struggling with different stages in their life, for the most part, they all relate to what each is going through. Just as AA, NA focuses on the 12-step program. The members of

    Read More

  • Theory of Acute Pain Management

    1261 Words  | 3 Pages

    Potent pain medication contains the aspects of utilizing medications such as morphine or demerol, how the medications are dispensed, and t...

    Read More

  • Morphine

    976 Words  | 2 Pages

    Morphine has been used for many years in different cultures, and for different reasons. It has been abused, demolished, revived, and manufactured. It has saved many lives and ruined many more. It is the drug of choice for many who feel they need something to numb out the bad, and forget about the real. It is also the prescription of choice for men and women who just want to have their lives back. Although morphine addicts go through hell during their withdrawal stages, and how awful the drug can be through abuse, it offers very much to a wide array of patients suffering from diseases such as cancer, severe back pain, kidney stones, and pain associated in trauma.

    Read More

  • Heroin Essay

    1057 Words  | 3 Pages

    A common recreational drug that is illegally dealt is Heroin. To many this drug is known by a few slang/street names, some being; smack, brown stone and junk (Tracy, 2012). Heroin is a highly addictive opiate that caused many different issues regarding physical and mental health. It can be consumed in 3 different ways: snorting, injecting and smoking. The original purpose of heroin is far different then the purpose that it is used for today in society. In 1874, heroin was first produced from morphine and 24 years later began its journey in the field of medicine to help morphine addicted patients (Scott, 1998). After use of the medicine it became present that the drug was just as addictive as morphine and was in turn creating patients to become addicted to the new drug. In 1902, doctors ceased the use of heroin in the medical field and a few years following, 8 years later, the first case of a heroin addict was admitted to a hospital for treatment (Scott, 1998). The drug is no longer used for a medical purposes but is still present in the legal drug selling market. Many countries have stiff penalties if caught in possession of or are selling heroin, because this drug is listed as a Class A drug (“Opium, Morphine, Heroin”, n.d.).

    Read More

  • Opium Essay

    769 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 1805, morphine and codeine were isolated from opium, and morphine served as a cure for opium addiction since its addictive characteristics were not known. Morphine’s use as a treatment for opium addiction was initially well received, as morphine has about ten times more euphoric effects than the equivalent amount of opium. Over the years, however, morphine abuse has increased. Heroin was synthesized from morphine in 1874 by an English chemist, but was not made commercially until 1898 by the Bayer Pharmaceutical Company. Attempts were proposed to use heroin in place of morphine due to problems of morphine abuse.

    Read More

  • Heroin: The Dangers Of Heroin Use

    901 Words  | 2 Pages

    An estimated 3.7 million people had used heroin at some time in their life, as of 2005. Over 119,000 of the people surveyed reported using it within the month preceding the survey. Heroin is an illegal, highly addictive drug. It is the most abused and quickest way to get a high from the opiates. An opiate is a drug with morphine-like effects, derived from opium. Heroin comes from morphine, a naturally occurring substance extracted from the seed pod of certain varieties of poppy plants. Heroin can be in the form of white or brownish powder, or a black sticky substance known as “black tar heroin.” Purer heroin is becoming more popular on the streets. Most of the street heroin is “cut,” or laced, with other drugs or substances such as sugar, starch, powdered milk, or quinine. Quinine is a bitter crystalline compound present in cinchona bark, used as a tonic and formerly as an ant malarial drug. Most heroin abusers do not know the actual strength or content of the drug which puts them at a greater risk of overdose or death.

    Read More

  • The Importance of Palliative Care for the Dying Patient

    1692 Words  | 4 Pages

    Aranella, Cheryl, MD., M.P.H. Use of Opiates to Manage Pain in the Seriously and Terminally Ill Patient. American Hospice Foundation, 2006. Web. 7 November 2011.

    Read More

More about Morphine Essay

Open Document