of opium. Indeed, there can be few (if any) officials in authority, either in India or China, having, or who could be reasonably expected to possess, more than a very general impression regarding the subject. Yet, in many districts in India, the use of opium is as common as in China itself. On the other hand, there are numerous medical officers, who, from personal experience and observation, of...

Background: The incidence of suicide is higher in individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than the general population. This prevalence rate is related to many factors including drug dependence. This study was conducted in people wounded during the Iran-Iraq war with PTSD, in order to compare the risk of suicide in those with and without drug and nicotine dependence.Methods: This ...

It is hard to decide when and where the opium poppy was first cultivated. It may have been grown for its seeds before people discovered how to prepare mekonion from the leaves and fruits of the plant or opium (from "opos," the Greek word for juice) from the liquid that appears on the unripe seed capsule when it is notched. The use of written records to decipher the early history of opium use an...

BACKGROUND Given the paucity of data on possible testis changes in opioid dependents, we sought to compare the testis volumes between a group of opium dependents and a group of healthy controls. OBJECTIVE Comparison of testis volume between opium dependents and healthy controls. MATERIALS AND METHODS This case-control study recruited 100 men with opium dependency (cases) and 100 healthy men...

BACKGROUND Use of narcotic or "recreational" drugs has been associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes such as preterm delivery. However, the associations might be confounded by other factors related to high-risk behaviours. This is the first study to investigate the association between traditional opium use during pregnancy and risk of preterm delivery. METHOD AND FINDINGS We performed a pop...

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...

OBJECTIVES Smoking opium/cigarette is a global health concern. The aim of this study was to examine learning and memory of rat male offsprings whose mothers had been exposed to either opium or morphine with nicotine during pregnancy. MATERIALS AND METHODS Wistar rats were used for the experiments. In the female rats, opium, morphine and nicotine dependencies were induced by daily injections o...

BACKGROUND Along with the established effects of opium on metabolic parameters, stimulatory or inhibitory effects of opium on metabolic syndrome are also predictable. This study aimed to examine the association of opium use with metabolic syndrome and its components. METHODS This study was conducted on 5332 out of 5900 original sample participants enrolled in a population-based cohort entitle...