Opioid Tolerance Research

      As well as killing pain, moderate doses of pure opioids produce a range of mild effects. They depress the activity of the nervous system, including such reflexes as coughing, breathing and heart rate. They also cause widening of the blood vessels, which gives a feeling of warmth and reduces bowel activity, which causes constipation.

The binding could only occur in the receptors active site if the size, shape and charge of the morphine’s meet the requirement of the receptor. Once the match is identified, the following binding process would take place. The flat benzene ring in morphine would fit securely in the flat surface of the receptor’s active site to allow the rest of the molecule to fall in place easily. The adjacent carbon atoms would fit into a nearby groove, while the nitrogen atom would attach to the negatively charged group receptor, hence joining the two together. After the binding occurred, the morphine would be able to block the sending of the painful information from the pre-synaptic neuron on the nociceptor. This is because, it caused a reactionary changed in the cell which blocks its ability to produces the substance that causes the feeling of pain during and/or after an operation and injury.

As better and more comprehensive education is provided both to the general public and practicing clinicians the hope is to reduce the negativity surrounding the users of opioids, and to eliminate demeaning language coupled to them as well. This could improve patient morale and help the needless continuation of physical suffering within patients, as they would be more comfortable approaching and using opioids for therapeutic purposes1. That being said there are those within our communities who do abuse these substances and pharmacists must recognize the signs of abusers, it is important for them to reach out, without comment, to help those suffering from opioid abuse once they have been

The use of opioid-based prescription medications to treat non-terminal chronic pain can cause side effects from short term use, and is overly common and ineffective. Firstly, opioid usage can induce negative short-term effects. According to William A. Darity, Jr., short-term opioid usage causes negative effects such as “euphoria, drowsiness, and impaired motor and cognitive functioning” (“Drugs”). The short term effects of the opioids may cause the patient to isolate him or herself socially due to being self-conscious about his or her friends and peers seeing the individual in their current condition. Due to his or her fragile emotional state, however, if the patient isolates him or herself during a time in which he or she should have increased

Similar considerations may help explain why several prescription opioids — such as hydromorphone, fentanyl, morphine, and oxycodone — have a potential for abuse that is similar to, and in some cases even higher than, the potential for abuse with heroin. Finally, these differential properties and effects are likely to interact with interindividual variability in powerful, complex, and incompletely predictable ways, so that some persons who abuse prescription opioids could find heroin less rewarding than prescription opioids, similarly rewarding, or even more rewarding

Opioids attach themselves to specific proteins called opioid receptors. These opioid receptors are found throughout the body including the brain, spinal cord, and GI tract. When an opioid attaches to a receptor, it can reduce the perception of pain. Through this coupling with receptors, opioids can also produce drowsiness, mental confusion, nausea, constipation, and, depending upon the amount of drug taken, can stop respiration leading to death (overdosing).

Eventually, the person may consume astronomical amounts of opioids to satisfy the increase in tolerance. As an example, I treated a young man consuming over 1000 mg of morphine daily. For reference, the usual starting dose of morphine is 30-60 mg daily. He was fully alert without a hint of fatigue, unsteadiness in his gait or incoherence in his speech. That same dose in a person without built-up tolerance would easily be fatal.

The report is a continuing study of how prescription drugs such as; painkiller, oxycodone, codeine, hydrocodone, fentanyl, morphine, epidemic and heroin can cause opioid addiction. People who are addicted to drugs can and will create long term damage to their body, which can bring medical issues, including lung or cardiovascular disease, stroke, cancer or AID’s. American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) researcher stated, “That opioids chemical causes the brain and nerve cells to produce pleasurable effects and relieve pain.” (Nora D. Volkow, 2014). Now, when that happens the brain will relapsing causing individual pathologically to pursue reward or relief from the controlled substance. (Nora D. Volkow, 2014). There was a study done in

Pain medications result in complicated side effects beyond addiction and tolerance which is Opioid-Induced Hyperalgesia (OIH). “There’s an unfortunate irony for people who rely on morphine, oxycodone, and other opioid painkillers: The drug that’s supposed to offer you relief can actually make you more sensitive to pain over time” (“Why Taking Morphine Makes Pain Worse”, 2016). This effect of the drug is known as hyperalgesia but in the presence of opioids; this is known as Opioid-induced hyperalgesia. Opioid is a well know drug originated from the opium poppy plant and it has been around for thousands of years for both recreational and medicinal purposes. The most active purpose for this drug is to relieve pain which is also known as a painkiller. There is a law stating that all contents must be labeled on all medicines containing opioid; “Congresswoman Annie Kuster (NH-02) welcomed today’s announcement by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that it would begin requiring warnings for medications that contain opioids” (“FDA Policy to Require Labeling of Prescription Medications Containing Opioids”, 2016). This drug should not be taken without direct orders from a doctor nor should it be misused. Scientists have observed that the more an individual consumes, the less effective the drug becomes. This leads to a viscous cycle of people relying on higher doses. Opioid sets off a chain of signals in the spinal cord that heightens pain rather than reducing it, even after the

Opioid-induced adverse effects are a very interesting topic and does play a big part in patient safety. It’s estimated that more than half of older adults who reside in a healcre related community have a chronic pain disorder, with the long-term care setting rate of prevalence substantially increased (up to almost 90%). Physicians across all care settings are tasked with the daunting challenge of providing pain relief while, at the same time, minimizing opioid-induced side effects. Some of the common opioid-induced side effects are Constipation, Nausea, Vomiting, Pruritus, Sweating, Sedation, Fatigue, Headache, Delirium, Confusion, Clouded vision, Dizziness, Xerostomia, Postural Hypotension, Bladder Dysfunction such as Urinary Retention,

Eventually, the person may consume astronomical amounts of opioids to satisfy the increase in tolerance. As an example, I treated a young man consuming more than 1000 mg of morphine daily. For reference, the usual starting dose of morphine is 30-60 mg daily. Yet, he was fully alert without a hint of fatigue, unsteadiness in his gait or incoherence in his speech. That same dose in a person without built-up tolerance would easily

Opioids are drugs taken for relieving pain. This drug has its effect on the human body through the reduction of the intensity of neuro-pain signals which are relayed to the brain (Opioids, 2009). Classic examples are the painkillers that include morphine, methadone, and hydrocodone among others. Pain is a physical suffering caused by illness or injury and may vary from steady to constant and throbbing to pulsating. It is not reasonable for anyone of us to except no pain except for those who suffer from anhydrases. This is an unusual genetic disorder that makes one unable to feel pain. Opioids play a significant role in the health system but they can be hazardous if used for pleasure or in a case of addiction. It is therefore important that

Opioids are pain relievers that bind to opioid receptors on nerve cells throughout the body. They produce feelings of euphoria, tranquility and sedation. However, opioids are “considered the most harmful of all illicit drugs” (Amato et al., 2005, p.321).

Opioids, which includes drugs such as morphine and codeine, bind to opioid receptors and help to relieve pain through the activation of K+ ATP channels. While these analgesic effects of opioids have been studied for decades, the rise of opioid tolerance and addiction creates a very interesting question: How did opioid tolerance and addiction evolve, and what are the ancestral reasons for these traits? To first understand this question, the evolutionary history of opioid receptors needs to be examined. Looking at the evolutionary history of the four opioid receptors seen today in Homo sapiens will help to understand how the functions of each receptor evolved. Secondly, following the evolution of the pathways involved with opioid receptor signaling and comparing that to other pathways would be helpful to understand if there are opioid-like receptor pathways in species besides vertebrates. Finally, looking at the evolution of the pathways involved with physical and social pain will be crucial to understanding why humans are vulnerable to addiction. Examining the effects of social interactions

A nerve cell has a negative charge at a resting state due to negatively charged proteins within the cell.[3] Although the inside of the cell contains positively charged potassium ions as well, overall the charge is still negative. Along with potassium on the inside of the cell, positively charged sodium ions are located around the exterior of the cell.[3] When an action potential occurs, the cell becomes even more negatively charged. In turn, this causes sodium transport molecules in the membrane of the cell to open.[3] Sodium will then enter the cell during active transport. The positively charged sodium will cancel out the negatively charged active potential which will depolarize the cell. This allows neurotransmitters to transfer from cell to cell.[3] These neurotransmitters are what allows the body to feel pain. Local anesthetics work by diffusing through nerve fibers. Once they’ve reached the cells, they block the sodium transport molecules in the cell.[2] Therefore neurotransmitters cannot transfer information from cell to cell and the feeling of