The importance of opium as a cash crop among the Hmong 1 in north Thailand is widely known and has been studied in detaii.2 The association between the Hmong and Yunnanese "Haw" traders, through whom the Hmong have traditionally marketed opium, is also well known. It is a common misconception, however, that opium plays a central role in Hmong culture. It has, for example, apparently little or n...

Article type: Short communication Objective(s): The aim of this study was to determine the important molecules involved in apoptosis induction by opium in Jurkat cell line. Materials and Methods: Jurkat cells were incubated 48 hrs with 2.86×10-5 g/ml concentration of opium and apoptosis as well as expression levels of related molecules were measured. Results: Our results demonstrated that 50.3±...

BACKGROUND Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide, and half of all incident lung cancers are believed to occur in the developing countries, including Iran. OBJECTIVE We investigated the association of opium with the risk of lung cancer in a case-control study. METHODS We enrolled 242 cases and 484 matched controls in this study. A questionnaire was developed, con...

Natural opium is a popular seasonal alternation for substance dependent people. Its processing, way of using, experience and change of habits was the aim of our study carried out via anonymous questionnaire and directed interview. 47 questionnaires were obtained. According to our results natural opium has been abused by people 19-42 years old, more than a half of them were male. Basic drug were...

which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Viral infections such as HIV and HCV have a serious negative effect on the health of injecting drug users (IDUs) in Iran (1-4). Two recent studies in Tehran, Iran have shown that HCV prevalence was between 52%-80% among IDUs (5, 6). Furthermore, many IDUs might be infected...

Some Asian people believe that opium can protect the cardiovascular system. To assess this belief, we investigated the effect of passive opium smoking (POS) on cardiovascular indices in rabbits with ischemic and non-ischemic hearts.Rabbits (n = 43) were divided into control (CTL), short term opium (SO) and long term opium (LO) groups. SO and LO groups were exposed to opium smoking for 3 days an...

in the morning, and began to be uneasy and to fall into a drowsy state since 10 A. M. The patient had no fever previously, and no sort of constitutional disturbance whatever. It was a female child, about a year and a half old. On my visit I found my little patient recumbent on her mother's lap, dozing and perspiring a little ; skin cold, both the pupils much contracted, pulse weak and frequent,...

BACKGROUND Opium is one of the most common substances used worldwide with variable epidemiologic features in different regions. This study was performed in southern Iran, to find the epidemiology of opium use and its association with different factors and diseases. METHODS This cross-sectional study was performed on baseline data extracted from Pars Cohort Study performed in Valashahr, a rura...

BACKGROUND The risk of infectious, autoimmune and immunodeficiency diseases and cancers rise in opioid addicts due to changes in innate and acquired immune responses. Three types of opioid receptors (К-δ-μ) are expressed on the surface of lymphocytes and mononuclear phagocytes. The present study was designed to examine the effects of different concentrations of opium on the secretion of some cy...

BACKGROUND The effect of opium on glycemic control in diabetics is a controversial issue, as some studies have shown glucose lowering effect of opium in diabetes while the results of other studies do not support this idea. The possible role of opioid peptides in the regulation of food intake has been previously investigated. However, there is no data available about relationship between opium u...