Opium
Opium is a drug that is derived from poppy juice. Its pain-relieving qualities have been known since ancient times. Opium was used by prehistoric inhabitants of what is now Switzerland, by ancient Greek physicians shortly after the time of Hippocrates, and by Egyptians by about 1590 b.c. Arabian traders introduced opium to India and China around A.D. 600. Opium was used in Europe through the Middle Ages.
From the 1600s through the 1800s opium reigned supreme in Western medicine, considered to be the single most useful drug. It was particularly promoted by the English physician Thomas Sydenham, to relieve pain, induce sleep, and treat strangulated bowel obstruction. Sydenham developed laudanum, a preparation of opium dissolved in sherry and flavored with saffron. Thomas de Quincey's (1785-1859) classic Confessions of an English Opium Eater(1822) described the author's experiences with laudanum.
In the days before ether, opium, given in massive doses, was the most effective substance to deaden pain during surgery. Opium was also freely used to treat fever and diarrhea, to promote sleep, and to relieve pain caused by a variety of conditions. It appeared in many of the popular patent medicines. It was also widely prescribed to consumptives (people suffering from tuberculosis) to relieve coughing and promote a sense of well-being. Opium use became widespread among artists and writers involved in the Romantic movement of the nineteenth century.
In China, addictive opium smoking was rampant by the late 1700s. Chinese government opposition to the opium trade promoted by Western interests brought about the Opium War between China and England from 1839 to 1842.
Morphine, the main active ingredient in opium, was discovered in 1805 by Friedrich Sertürner (1783-1841). Codeine, another pain-killer derived from opium, was discovered a few years later by Pierre-Jean Robiquet (1780-1840). After the hypodermic syringe was invented in 1853, Alexander Wood (1817-1884) of Edinburgh, Scotland, developed a method of injecting morphine to relieve neuralgia. Morphia injection for relief of pain was enthusiastically embraced by the medical community. Doctors even taught their patients how to inject themselves. Morphia injection greatly increased the amounts of the drug that users were taking as compared with laudanum.
Gradually, the addictive properties of opium and morphine were recognized. Regular use resulted in dependency, and stopping use caused uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms. The recognition of these addictive effects and the discovery of ether as an anesthetic greatly reduced the use of opium. Addicts preferred the more powerful form, morphine. Ironically, the search for a morphine substitute that would kill pain but be nonaddictive resulted in the discovery of heroin, which proved to be highly addictive.
In addition to the naturally derived opiates like morphine and codeine, synthetic opiate-related drugs include meperidine (Demerol) and methadone, which is widely used in drug treatment programs for heroin addicts. A worldwide need for medicinal opiates to relieve acute pain as a result of disease, surgery, or injury is expected to increase with the world's growing elderly population.resulted in the discovery of heroin, which proved to be highly addictive.Natural and synthetic opium derivatives are called opiates.
This is the complete article, containing 500 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page).
