Pain Relief Morphine.

Morphine is the major active substance in opium, a compound extracted from unripe seed pods of the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum L. or the synonym paeoniflorum). The well known drug called heroin (diacetylmorphine) is derived from morphine. Morphine is a very strong opioid analgesic (pain killing) drug that acts directly on the central nervous system (CNS).

Morphine is a very potent pain killer but it should be used with extreme caution since it produces severe side effects and can cause deadly overdoses. Mental side effects include euphoria and a general feeling of well being, but morphine can also cause nightmares and other unpleasant metal side effects. Morphine will also cause drowsiness, lethargy, blurred vision and an impairment of the users overall mental performance. The user will usually not experience hunger while the morphine is active, and a pain relief medication containing morphine will also inhibit the cough reflex and cause constipation.

Tolerance towards the morphine based pain relief medication, as well as both physical and psychological dependence on the drug, will develop quickly. Morphine should therefore not be used when some other, less dangerous, pain relief medication would be sufficient. 

Morphine side effects.

1. respiratory depression
2. nausea
3. vomiting
4. cough suppression
5. sedation
6. addiction

Morphine - relief for acute severe pain

Morphine is used to relief acute, severe pain such as pain caused by surgery or trauma. During general or epidural anaesthesia, morphine is sometimes used as an additional drug to relieve pain. Morphine can also be used as a pain relief medication for moderate to severe chronic pain, such as cancer pain. In palliative care morphine is often used as a pain relief medication, since it is often the only drug potent enough to relieve pains caused by severe illnesses that the doctors are unable to cure.

Pain relief medication containing morphine can be administered subcutaneous (injections under the skin), intravenous (injections into a vein) or by epidural shots (injections into the epidural space, which is close to the spinal cord). Morphine can also be taken orally in the form of tablets or elixir. There is also morphine based pain relief medication in the form of suppositories to be inserted rectally. Common brand names for pain relief medication containing morphine are Kadian, MS Contin, MSIR, Oramorph SR, RMS and Roxanol.    

The history of Opium

Opium has a long history as a pain relief medication, but it wasn’t until 1803 that the German pharmacist Friedrich Wilhelm Adam Serturner managed to isolate morphine. He called the substance morphium after the Greek god of dreams – Morpheus. Pain relief medications containing morphine often causes sleepiness and drowsiness, but patients using morphine as a pain relief medication often experience insomnia as well.

Morphine caught on as a pain relief medication after 1853 when the hypodermic needle was invented. Morphine was also used as a ‘cure’ for opium and alcohol addition. During the American Civil War morphine was extensively used on soldiers to relieve pain caused by trauma and over 400,000 soldiers suffered from morphine addiction after the end of the war. Morphine addiction was therefore also known as “soldier’s disease”.

Morphine targets a specific receptor, and many such receptors are located in the spinal cord's substantia gelatinosa. This is a region where pain signals sent from other organs in the body are first processed. A morphine receptor has a flat part that binds to the aromatic ring found in the morphine molecule. When the morphine molecule binds to the receptor it will cause the cell membrane's natural attraction to sodium ions to change. This will decrease the release of neurotransmitters, which is why morphine is such a strong pain relief medication.