Morphine Research Paper
Pain is the body’s natural reaction to distress or damage to the tissues of the body usually due to illness or injury. There are different levels of severity of pain and several categories of drugs that treat it Morphine is a type of narcotic drug synthesized from opium. It is a drug called an opiate that is used to alleviate pain. Opioids are substances that bind to the kappa, lambda and mu opioid receptors in the brain. Morphine acts mainly on mu receptors to decrease the transmission of painful stimuli through the spinal cord from body to brain, as well as action within the brain itself. Currently, it is legal in Canada with a doctor’s prescription. Common brand names for morphine include Avinza, Kadian, MS Contin, MSIR, Oramorph SR, and Roxanol.
Prescription
If morphine is to be used in a safe and legal manner, many factors should be taken into account. For example, your doctor should be notified if you have asthma, COPD, sleep apnea, liver or kidney disease, underactive thyroid, curvature of the spine, a history of head injury or brain tumor, epilepsy, low blood pressure, mental illness, amongst other things. It is not recommended to take morphine with other opioids, as this could cause problems if your body is not opioid tolerant.
Effects:
Other than alleviation of pain, some effects of morphine include impairment of mental and physical performance, relief of fear and anxiety, euphoria, decrease in hunger, and inhibiting the cough reflex. Respiratory depression is also common, even for standarddoses of morphine. Morphine also causes histamine release, which causes itching of the skin and nose, as well as a mild flushing of the skin.
Addiction: As with all prescription drugs, morphine has the potential to be abused, and is sometimes distributed illegally. It is highly addictive, since morphine activates the brain’s reward