I report how some adulterants affect results for drugs of abuse in urine as measured by Roche RIA, Syva emit d.a.u., and Abbott TDx fpia (fluorescence polarization immunoassay) for the following drugs: amphetamines, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, cannabinoids, cocaine, opiates, and phencyclidine (PCP). Sodium chloride interfered negatively with all of these drugs when assayed by emit and caused...

The popular view of the major function of the opiates is that they produce analgesia. Much evidence has been accumulated that the endogenous opiates play an integral role in the central regulation of appetite. We postulate that the major effect of the endogenous opiates is to induce the feeding drive with their analgesic properties representing an epiphenomenon. Am J Cli,, Nuir 1982;35:757-76l.

Opiates and cocaine both have effects on adrenal and gonadal function. Opiates suppress the hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis, whereas cocaine leads to HPA activation. Opiates also cause gonadal dysfunction in both men and women. During withdrawal from opiates and cocaine, the HPA axis is activated which may reinforce relapse behavior. This review describes these hormonal effects and ex...

Over the course of human history, it has been common to use plants for medicinal purposes, such as for providing relief from particular maladies and self-medication. Opium represents one longstanding remedy that has been used to address a range of medical conditions, alleviating discomfort often in ways that have proven pleasurable. Opium is a combination of compounds obtained from the mature f...

The authors discuss the effect of occupational exposure to opiates. A depressive influence of opiates on the respiratory system is well known. This effect results from stimulation of opioid kappa and delta receptors in the central nervous system leading to a decrease in spirometric parameters and degranulation of mast cells. The studies carried out in the USA indicated that 26% of the pharmaceu...

Scientific information about the neurobiology of addictive behaviors provides an increasingly important rationale to support opioid agonist pharmacotherapy, primarily methadone maintenance treatment, for long-term heroin addiction. In late 1963 and 1964, the first research was performed at The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research by Dole, Nyswander, and Kreek in an attempt to develop a ne...

Opiates are among the most powerful analgesics and pain-relieving agents. However, they are potentially extremely addictive thereby limiting their medical use, making them exceedingly susceptible to abuse and adding to the global drug problem. It is believed that positive memories associated with the pleasurable effects of opiates and negative memories associated with dysphoria during opiate wi...

BACKGROUND Although the effects of opioids on intracranial pressure (ICP) have long been a subject of controversy, they are frequently administered to patients with severe head trauma. We present a patient with an uncommon paradoxical response to opioids. CASE REPORT A patient with refractory intracranial hypertension after closed head injury was managed with standard medical therapy with onl...