Opioids Flashcards
Opium is derived from the poppy plant, specifically:
Papaver somniferum.
Although India had a monopoly on opium in the early 1800s, the country responsible for having the most opium smuggled into China was:
Britain
Morphine was isolated from opium in:
1806
Diacetylmorphine was originally sold under the brand name:
Heroin
In 2009, the world leader in opium and heroin production was:
Afghanistan
Of the following drugs, which is approximately 100 times more potent than morphine?
fentanyl
The administration of naloxone:
blocks the action of opioids.
Medically, opioids have saved the most lives because of their use as:
antidiarrheals
Opioids act in the brain via receptors for:
endorphins
What is Insite?
a supervised injection facility in Vancouver.
opium poppy in early Egyptian and Greek cultures
“to prevent he excessive crying of children”
opium in the Arabic world
Koran prevents use of alcohol, so opium became the primary social drug
-reached out an made contact with India and China
laudanum
opium extract
prepared by Dr Thomas Sydenham
Opium Wars
1729: outlawed in China
- smuggling widespread
British East India Company
- legal trade with India
- illicitly in China
Pressure grew and eventual war
morphine
1806
opium isolated
10x as potent as opium
Morphus - god of dream
codeine
1832
alkaloid of opium discovered
named for poppy head
why is morphine so good?
pure chemical
known potency
why did morphine spread?
1853: hypodermic syringe allowed delivery directly into blood
war - relief from pain and dysentery
-soldier’s disease (dependency)
heroin
two acetyl groups added to morphine (diacetlymorphine)
-1898 by Bayer
3x as potent as morphine (lipid solubility)
faster acting than morphine
marketed as non-habit-forming substitute for cocaine
-however, tolerance and dependence
supply, distribution, trafficking of Opium and Heroin
poppies imported through South and Southwest Asia
sold openly throughout major cities
major source of illicit opioid use through prescription
who are the primary suppliers for Opium to Canada?
South/Southwest Asia
changing profile of opioid user
heroin -> prescription opioid
prescription opioid
hydromorphone (Vicodin)
oxycodone
why has PO use increased?
prescription opiods were more readily accessible than heroin
opium to heroin?
opium -> morphine -> heroin
opioid antagonist
drugs that block action of opioids
-Naxolone, nalorphine
reverse depressed respiration
precipitate withdrawal syndrome
prvent dependent individuals from experiencing a high
opioid mechanism of action
nervous system and endocrine glands activate receptors
- Enkephalines (adrenal, brain)
- Endorphines (pituitary glands, brain)
beneficial uses for opioids
pain relief treat intestinal disorders cough suppressant (codeine)
opioid concerns
- dependence
- tolerance
- withdrawal (physical dependence)
-unpleasant but not life threatening
psychological dependence of opioids
- positive reinforcement
- negative reinforcement
- fast acting leads to dependence
acute toxicity of opioids
- depress respiratory centers in brain
- breathing shalllower
- addictive with alcohol
- cloudy consciousness
- occasional nausea and vomitting
naloxone uses
counteract acute toxiticty for opioids
opioid overdose
coma
depressed respiration
pinpoint pupils
chronic toxicity
associated with injection method
-infections
misconceptions of opioid use
- not always Euphoric
- tolerance to negative effects may develop more rapidly than to positive
- withdrawal is often similar to mild case of intestinal flu
- people don’t become dependent after one dose
