Morphine

Morphine is noted for its benefits in relieving extreme pain, and is used by people all over the world to relieve the discomfort caused by illness, surgery, or severe injury. Just as it is known for its medicinal qualities, morphine is also well known for its addictive qualities. It is one of the most habit-forming pain medications available.

Morphine first surfaced in the early 1800s, when a German pharmacist named Friedrich Serturner converted the active ingredient in opium into a crystalline substance, which was dubbed principium somniferum.

Several years later, Serturner and three others consumed three 30-milligram doses of principium somniferum over a period of less than an hour, not to return to reality until later on that week. He went on to publish research regarding this drug that described it and its effects, calling it morphium. Morpheus is the Greek god of dreams, and the drug was said to produce dream-like effects. The name was changed to morphine later that same year.

Although Serturner was responsible for the creation of morphine in its current form, it was physiologist Francois Magendie who began using morphine for medicinal purposes. It was administered via injection and by mouth to relieve pain. It does this by depressing the nervous system and increasing the threshold for pain, which is why it is more effective than other pain relievers. This same property is what can make morphine so dangerously addictive.

During the Civil War, morphine was dubbed “God’s own medicine” because it relieved pain that might have otherwise killed a person, and for that reason, the fact that it was so dangerously addictive was easily overlooked.

Shortly after the war ended, people began to notice the addictive qualities of morphine. Even worse than the addiction was the withdrawal that took place when those who had become inadvertently addicted to morphine went without the drug. Withdrawal symptoms can be mild to severe, including extreme pain, confusion, restlessness, and hyperventilation.

These days, morphine is known for what it is—an amazing pain reliever, but a dangerous narcotic as well. It has been replaced in many environments by a drug called methadone, which has many of the same pain relieving properties as morphine but none of the addictive, withdrawal-causing qualities.

Those who do take morphine for pain should pay strict attention to the way the medication was prescribed to them. Never take more than is prescribed at one time, and never take the medication more often than the prescription indicates.

Extreme pain is hard to treat, and morphine is an effective form of treating it. It is up to patients and their doctors to decide whether the possible side effects are worth the pain relief, and whether it is possible to use morphine responsibly and effectively.

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