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Lifestyle and Diet
Published in Chuong Pham-Huy, Bruno Pham Huy, Food and Lifestyle in Health and Disease, 2022
Chuong Pham-Huy, Bruno Pham Huy
The natural opiates include opium, morphine, and codeine (131). Opium is the latex obtained from the poppy plant namely Papaver somniferum belonging to the family Papaveraceae. Opium is mainly smoked with the aid of a special pipe, and sometimes prepared as a pill then swallowed. It gives to the addict a similar sensation as that of heroin and morphine, and has the same side effects. Opium addiction began since ancient times, mostly in Asia. Opiate addiction is now becoming a worldwide problem as 13–22 million people are afflicted; Asia encompasses more than half of that (131).
Pharmacology of Opioids
Published in Pamela E. Macintyre, Stephan A. Schug, Acute Pain Management, 2021
Pamela E. Macintyre, Stephan A. Schug
Morphine, codeine, and thebaine for commercial pharmaceutical use are still obtained from the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum. The amount of each alkaloid in the poppy depends on the variety, with poppy cultivars high in concentrations of thebaine now common. The more modern method of production harvests the dried poppy and extracts these alkaloids from the poppy straw.
Inhalational Durg Abuse
Published in Jacob Loke, Pathophysiology and Treatment of Inhalation Injuries, 2020
Jacob Loke, Richard Rowley, Herbert D. Kleber, Peter Jatlow
The opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, can be grown in most temperate climates. The plant blooms in the summer, at which time opium-containing latex can be collected. The raw opium has many natural alkaloids including morphine, codeine, papaverine, narcotine, and thebaine. Opium is prepared for smoking by boiling down the latex. It is smoked in an elaborate pipe. Morphine, a more refined opium product prepared by boiling the latex in a small quantity of water and adding small amounts of lime, was first isolated in 1803. The remaining opiates are either semisynthetic (e.g., heroin, codeine, and dilaudid), produced by chemical modification of the morphine molecule, or totally synthetic (e.g., Dolophine [methadone] and Demerol [meperidine]). Heroin or diacetylmorphine is one of the most potent of the semisynthetic products and is a white crystalline powder prepared by a multistep chemical modification of morphine. First produced in 1898 by a German pharmaceutical firm, Bayer, heroin was named for its “heroic” curative powers (Goode, 1984). Many forms of heroin which vary in color, purity, and potency are found in the illicit drug market. In order to increase the profit from illegal drug sale, street heroin is usually only 3-20% pure. The heroin is typically “cut” with milk sugar, lactose, or quinine, though occasionally confectioners’ sugar, talcum powder, mannite, flour, aspirin, and tranquilizers are used. Heroin has even been adulterated with poisonous substances such as strychnine, cyanide, arsenic, or parathion (Froede, 1972).
Opium Use and the Risk of Cataract: a Hospital-based, Group-matched, Case–control Study in Iran
Published in Ophthalmic Epidemiology, 2023
Soheil Mehmandoost, Ali Sharifi, Hamid Reza Tohidinik, Shahriyar Shafa, Neda Hayati, Mohammad Sharifi, Willi McFarland, Hamid Sharifi
Smoking opium has not been studied as a risk factor for cataract. The dried extract of the poppy papaver somniferum is known as opium. Opium has been used since at least 5000 BC and is still widely used in many regions, particularly the central and western parts of Asia, including Iran, also, the United Nations International Drug Control Program (UNDCP) reports that the prevalence of opium has increased over the last several decades.8 Opium use increases the risk of several diseases, including pancreatic cancer, bladder cancer, and coronary artery disease.9–11 However, to the best of our knowledge, the association between opium and cataract has not yet been assessed. This study aimed to explore the possible association between opium use, by smoking and other routes, and the risk of cataract in Kerman province, in the southeast of Iran, an area with relatively high use of opium.
The effects of Papaver somniferum (Opium poppy) on health, its controversies and consensus evidence
Published in Toxin Reviews, 2022
Mahdiyeh Hedayati-Moghadam, Seyyed Ali Moezi, Toba Kazemi, Abdul Sami, Muhammad Akram, Rida Zainab, Mohammad Reza Khazdair
Papaver somniferum, commonly known as “Opium poppy” is an annual plant growing to about 100 cm (40 inches) tall, which belongs to the Papaveraceae family (Dasgupta 2019). Opium is the latex (a milky fluid) of unripe pods of poppy, which is obtained from the plants 1–3 weeks after flowering (Figure 1). The milky fluid is collected by the notch of green seed pods (Dasgupta 2019). Since past, up to now, it was believed opium consumption attenuated metabolic disorders risk factors thus, prescription of opium as a traditional drug has been more common among people who struck to Diabetes mellitus (DM) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) (11.2%) than healthy people (2.6%) (Fatehi et al.2013). Herbal medicines are popular in most populations, and people who have used them possess valuable information about these plants (Mortazavi Moghaddam et al.2020, Khazdair et al.2021). Although several pharmacological activities of herbal were reported, some herbs have several toxicity effects on animals and the human body (Anaeigoudari et al.2020, Farkhondeh et al.2020). Although the prevalence of opium abuse was declined compared to the increase of the other substance abuses in the world, although in some societies, such as Iran, opium consumption is still the major drug of abuse (Ziaaddini and Ziaaddini 2005).
Behavioral, histopathological, and biochemical evaluations on the effects of cinnamaldehyde, naloxone, and their combination in morphine-induced cerebellar toxicity
Published in Drug and Chemical Toxicology, 2022
Soraya Mahmoudi, Amir Abbas Farshid, Esmaeal Tamaddonfard, Mehdi Imani, Farahnaz Noroozinia
Morphine (C17H19NO3) derived from Papaver somniferum is the most potent painkiller among all opioids, and is used extensively in clinical setting (Vieira et al. 2019, Noori et al. 2019). Morphine exerts its effects through binding to mu-opioid receptor with some relative affinity for delta and kappa receptors (Günther et al. 2018). Short-term therapeutic use of opioids usually does not produce any serious health problem, whereas medium-and long-term use may lead to organ toxicity (Jalili et al. 2017, Salahshoor et al. 2018, Mohamed and Mahmoud 2019). Naloxone, as a competitive opioid receptor antagonist possesses a strong affinity for mu-opioid receptor and reverses central and peripheral effects of both exogenous and endogenous opioids (Bodnar 2018). Recent studies have suggested antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic properties for naloxone (Hsu et al. 2014, Wang et al. 2014, Wang et al. 2019).