The Adverse Effects Of Morphine

Morphine is a highly addictive opiate psychoactive painkiller. It is often used before or after surgery to alleviate severe pain. Morphine acts by attaching to specific proteins called opioid receptors, which are found in the brain, spinal cord, and gastrointestinal tract. The drug was originally derived from the poppy seed plant before it was chemically enhanced and manufactured. Starting off, the drug was used to cure alcoholism and certain types of addictions. This didn’t last very long considering morphine was found to be much more addictive than alcohol. In the early 1900s, morphine was identified as a controlled substance under the Harrison Act. The Harrison Act was put in place to control morphine by making it only legal for those

After Heroin is injected or inhaled, it crosses the blood brain barrier, and once in the brain, it is converted to morphine and will bind with opioid receptors. This transferring is what gives the user their rush, and the more of the drug, the faster it binds and the stronger the rush. Heroin

Narcotic analgesics, especially morphine are underused for pain control with in the medical field. This underuse is because medical professionals, including doctors, fear patient addiction, side effects and possible lose of their licenses. These fears deny adequate healing and a better quality of life to those who would benefit from a more effective use of these drugs, as done in hospice care.

The reason that this drug can be so intense and dangerous is because it falls into the category II narcotics. Many commonly known narcotics include opium, morphine, and heroin. The addiction rate of any of these drugs is phenomenal. Narcotics are central nervous system depressants that relieve pain without causing the loss of consciousness. They can also produce feelings drowsiness, mental confusion and euphoria. The analgesic effects of narcotics result from the drugs’ effects on the emotional aspects of pain. Many patients that experience intense pain say that after the administration of the narcotic, their pain is as intense as ever but no longer as bothersome. Because narcotics block the emotional side effects of pain they make it much more bearable.

Opioid is a narcotic analgesic class of drugs which includes that of heroin, the synthetic variation fentanyl and other analgesic as oxycodone(OxyContin), hydrocodone, codeine, and morphine. These drugs adhere specifically to the opioid receptors in the PNS and CNS. Main functions as a receptor ligand is to reduce pain which is why it is prescribed by physicians at a lower dose. A common side effects of these drugs is euphoria and

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).

Opioids are highly addictive and dangerous drugs, but have some medicinal use. The most common clinical use of opioid narcotics is as an analgesic to relieve pain (Fleckenstein, Hanson, & Venturelli, 2015, p. 276.). Opioid narcotics are used for pain relief. Once consumed, opioids activate receptors that are controlled by endorphins (Fleckenstein, et al., 2015, p. 277.). Endorphins are proteins that are released into the brain when one

Since endorphins keep us from feeling pain, morphine and heroin can also stop pain signals from traveling to the brain. They would make us feel euphoric, and our body could easily get addicted to morphine and

Opioids are substances that act on opioid receptors in the brain to produce morphine-like effects. Opioids are most often used medically to relieve pain.

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

The pharmacokinetics of opioids begins with the type of route of administration. The faster the opioid reaches the blood stream the quicker the effects of the opioid will reach the brain. Only about 50% of orally administered morphine passes through the blood brain barrier. Heroine is more lipid soluble than morphine therefore has an easier time of crossing the blood brain barrier. It is the fact that heroine has two acetyl groups attached to it that helps it be more lipid-soluble. This makes heroine 2 to 3 times more potent than morphine. Opioids bind to opioid receptors in the brain. There are 3 types of opioid receptors. There are Mu, Delta, and Kappa receptors. The Mu receptors are highly concentrated in the nucleus accumbens, the reward center of the brain, which explains why opioids are highly addictive. Opioids are eventually metabolized by the liver and

effect the same structures, however; they way those structures are effected but different opiates can vary. Morphine, and opiates in general, affect four parts of the brain, which are the brainstem, the cerebral cortex, the cerebellum, and the middle brain. The way that morphine acts on these parts of the brain and its various effects leads to abnormal behavior within these areas (Gahlinger, 2004). The first region that is affected by morphine is the brainstem, which is responsible for many of the automatic actions our bodies do such as breathing, sleeping, and regulation. Since morphine directly affects this area of the brain, the drug can easily disrupt these automatic functions of our bodies that would ultimately result in a coma or death.

Understanding medications and relating them to a patient’s care is a legal requirement for the RN. Morphine an opioid analgesic is for moderate to severe pain which has respiratory suppression as the main side effect, naloxone and resuscitation equipment should be close by to reverse this effect. (Tiziani, 2013). Glyceryl trinitrate (GTN) used for chest pain, works by causing vasodilation to the blood vessels therefore increasing blood flow to the heart, the risk of repeated doses may lead to hypotension (Tiziani, 2013). Aspirin is used as an antiplatelet for Mr Jones and given for a suspected myocardial infarction (MI) due to plaque that may have broken away within a coronary artery and formed a blood clot that leads to a blockage (Tiziani,

Opiods usually produce a so called "high". The faster they take affect, the more intense the high you receive. Heroin can produce an insanely intense high thanks to its very short duration the high only lasts fifteen to thirty minutes. Morphine is much a longer high, ussually lasting from four to six hours.

Since their development, Opiate painkillers have proved invaluable in the healthcare industry. The need for analgesia has been prevalent since the beginning of time itself and opium has been used as early as Ancient China and fought over in wars such as the Opium Wars. More modernly, this substance has been synthesized for potency and purity in achieving the ultimate pain reliever. It exists in drugs today such as OxyContin, Norco, Percocet, morphine, Dilaudid, Opana, and Demerol. In addition to relieving pain, these medications also produce euphoria and bind to opiate receptors in the brain which contribute to the development of forming an addiction. Opiate Addiction only grows as an issue in the United States due to its availability and lack of knowledge regarding addiction on behalf of patients receiving pain medication. This is why finding an effective cure or treatment to opiate addiction is imperative. Individual treatments for opiate addiction such as replacement therapy, rehabilitation, and support groups are flawed by themselves, however, in combination provide the most effective treatment for opiate addiction.