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...

OBJECTIVES Drug dependence as a chronic disorder is reversible over time and has a cost burden for individuals, families, and society. An individual who has stopped taking drugs for a long time may start taking drugs again. The variables affecting the reuse of drugs are not well known. Therefore a study of the factors that increase the length of time away from drugs is essential. METHODS This...

Nicotine in tobacco, tetrahydrocannabinol (delta 9-THC) in marijuana and morphine in opium are well known as drugs associated with dependence or addiction. Endogenous active substances that mimic the effects of the natural drugs and their respective receptors have been found in the mammalian central nervous system (CNS). Such active substances and receptors include acetylcholine (ACh) and the n...

Over 25 years anti-opium laws were enacted by three Asian governments in countries where opium use was traditional. Within months, heroin use suddenly appeared; and within a decade, heroin addiction surpassed opium addiction. The laws led to (1) increased price of narcotic drugs, (2) a heroin "industry," (3) corruption of the law enforcement system, and (4) major health problems involving paren...

This essay examines De Quincey's representation of opium ‘addiction’ in the cross-cultural context Britain and China light recent revisionist medical discussions addiction dependence, historical writing about use nineteenth-century China. user is compared to that China's first ‘city novel’, Courtesans Opium: Romantic Illusions Fool Yangzhou believed have been written 1848 (trans 2009). In this ...

INTRODUCTION Research suggests that methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) effectively reduces opiate dependence and related health and social problems. However, few studies have examined its effectiveness among the elderly. This study examined a monthly MMT regime for elderly opium addicts attending the National Addictions Management Service, Singapore. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study used a...

The effect of the endogenous opioid system as analgesics was not identified until the early 1970’s [1]. Since the 3rd century BC, however, it has been known that opium as the main compound of opiates, harvested from the juice of the opium poppy was of use in managing pain, as well being addictive [1,2]. The introduction in 1680 of Sydenham’s Laudanum, a mixture of opium with sherry wine and her...

Background: Opium is the most commonly-used narcotic in Iran and some Asian countries. There are many reports of lead poisoning in opium users. Lead poisoning encompasses a wide range of symptoms the incidence and severity of which depend on the concentration and duration of contact with lead. The present study compares blood levels of lead in two groups of non...

Background: Despite some evidences about protective or triggering role of opium use in patients with coronary artery disease, the exact role of opium is still under question. The current study aimed to address the relation of opium dependence on the severity and extension of myocardial infarction (MI) and its related mortality. Methods: The study population consisted of 460 consecutive patients...