BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES In addition to their major influence on human behavior, opium and opioids have been used for a long time as sedative and analgesic drugs. As from the 19th century, with the isolation of opium alkaloids and easy parenteral administration of these substances, there has been increased interest in the judicious medical use of opioids and in the analysis of social consequen...

Throughout history, opium has been used as a base for the opioid class of drugs used to suppress the central nervous system. Opium is a substance extracted from the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum L.). Its consumption and medicinal application date back to antiquity. In the medieval period, Avicenna, a famous Persian scholar (980-1037 AD) described poppy under the entry Afion of his medical enc...

Opium has been cultivated in Afghanistan since 1100 A.D., although production has steadily increased since 1979. Currently, Afghanistan produces three-quarters of the global opium supply, with injection drug use and HIV currently following the opium trade route through Central Asia. Although systematic studies are lacking, heroin use appears to be on the rise in Afghanistan. The purpose of this...

Studies showed that one of the oldest and prevalent drugs used by Iranians is opium. Due to reduction in the age of myocardial infarction and overall mortality by using opium and potentially dangerous side effects, prevention programs are necessary, especially in patients admitted to the wards, orthopedics, and internal surgery to reduce the incidence of DVT complications. By taking into accoun...

In this slender volume, Dr Harding has set himself the task of explaining how a moral condemnation ofopium use arose in Britain in the latter halfofthe nineteenth century, only to be supplanted by a medical concept of drug addiction as a pathological disease. He claims that he has diverged from "conventional histories" and, guided methodologically by Michel Foucault, has "tried to describe the ...

One of the highest areas of esophageal cancer incidence in the world is in northeastern Iran where up to 180 new cases/ 100,000 have been recorded per annum among Turkaman and Mazandarani villagers (10, 12). Although its use has been illegal in Iran since 1955, opium and its recycled pyrolytic product shireh are commonly smoked socially or are eaten for various bodily aches, diarrhea, and insom...

VIRGINIA BERRIDGE and GRIFFITH EDWARDS, Opium and the people: Opiate use in nineteenth-century England, London, Allen Lane; New York, St. Martin's Press, 1981, 8vo, pp. xxx, 369, £20.00. After reading Opium and the people, one is tempted to believe that opium was the religion of the masses. The drug was omnipresent in Victorian society. It was sold, without restriction, not only by chemists, bu...

BACKGROUND Opium abuse significantly affects the nutritional status of users and frequently leads to undernourishment. Methadone maintenance therapy has been used as one of the possible ways to prevent of infection diseases such as HIV and hepatitis B and C and improve the quality of life in opioid-dependent patients. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to assess the anthropometric and socio...

BackgroundOpium consumption has recently been identified as a carcinogen, but the impact of opium use on cancer burden is unknown. We aimed to evaluate fraction cancers that could be attributed alone and in combination with cigarette smoking region where widely used.Methods50,045 Iranian adults were recruited this prospective cohort study between 2004 2008 followed through January 2022. assesse...

Dear Editor, Atrial fibrillation (AF) is one of the most frequent complications after cardiac surgery. It occurs in approximately 20% to 35% of patients after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery and in more than 50% of patients after valve surgery (1). AF after cardiac surgery is a major cause of patients’ morbidity and mortality. Moreover, it can prolong hospitalization and increase he...