Iran is suffering from the 2(nd) most severe addiction to opioids in the world. While the explanation of this enormous drug problem is refutably related to drug trafficking, the drug dilemma also illustrates the chain reaction of the imposed war with Iraq in 1980 - 88; the problems of poverty, unemployment, urbanization, homelessness, adultery, family crises, divorce, domestic violence, and run...

BACKGROUND The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of opium addiction and cigarette smoking on the complete blood count (CBC). METHODS Eighty-six male subjects, including 31 opium-addicted cigarette smokers (OACS), 19 opium-addicted non-cigarette smokers (OANCS), 17 non-opium-addicted cigarette smokers (NOACS), and 19 non-opium-addicted non-cigarette smokers (NOANCS) parti...

BACKGROUND The main goal of this study is to determine the relationship between opium dependency and frequency of urolithiasis renal colics. METHODS In a cross sectional study we compared opium dependency in urolithiasis patients (case group) with non-urolithiasis patients (control group) and assessed urolithiasis related renal colics as risk factor to opium dependency prevalence. Dependency ...

OBJECTIVE To assess the reliability and validity of self-reported opium use in a rural Iranian population at high risk for esophageal cancer in preparation for a large cohort study. METHOD 1,057 subjects ages 33 to 84 years were recruited from Gonbad city and three surrounding villages in Golestan province of Iran and completed a questionnaire and provided biological samples. The history and ...

BACKGROUND To determine the effect of opium smoking cessation on the frequency and type of microorganisms in the nasopharynx of opium smokers. METHODS This was a cross-sectional study performed in psychology and ENT department of Moradi Hospital of Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences in 2008 (Kerman, Iran). Nasopharyngeal cultures were taken from 50 opium smokers before and 2 to 3 months...

BACKGROUND Opium is widely used among addicts in the Middle East countries such as Iran. Recent reports suggest that opium sellers cheat their customers by adding lead to the opium. Contaminated opium can threaten the health of consumers. This study was designed to evaluate the lead concentration in blood sample of oral and inhaled opium user's referring to Amir Al-Momenin Hospital in Zabol, Ir...

Although in India drug addiction has existed on a more extensive scale than in any other country in the world with the exception perhaps of China little is known regarding the problem. Two commissions were appointed to go into the matter at the end of the last century; a Royal Commission was appointed in 1893 to enquire into the prevalence of the opium habit, and a commission to go into the que...

Drug addiction is spreading alarmingly and rapidly, particularly among our youth today. The global situation of drug abuse is far from encouraging, with heroin being the main drug of abuse in Southeast Asia and Europe. The problem is becoming increasingly serious in Malaysia because of the country's proximity to drug producing areas, called the "Golden Triangle" which comprises the borders of T...

OPIUM WAS widely used in the nineteenth century as an analgesic, a febrifuge, a sedative, and an anti-diarrhoea agent. Opium's addictive properties had been noted in the medical literature as early as 1700, but medical men did not take these very seriously. With the advent of the hypodermic syringe in 1856, which made it possible for morphia (the alkaloid of opium) to be injected, physicians be...