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MORPHINE
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MORPHINE , the See also:chief See also:alkaloid of See also:opium (q.v.), to which the medicinal See also:action of the former is mainly due. It is not used itself in See also:medicine owing to its insolubility in See also:water and See also:ether. The preparations of morphine are incompatible with salts of See also:iron, See also:copper and See also:mercury, also with See also:lime water and alkaline earths and substances containing See also:tannin. With ferric chloride it forms a deep red See also:colour.
The preparations of morphine in the See also:British See also:Pharmacopoeia are as follow: from Morphinae Hydrochloridum are made five sub-preparations: (I) Liquor Morphinae Hydrochloridi, strength 1% or about 41 grs. of the hydrochloride to the fl. oz.; (2) Suppositoria Morphinae, made with a basis of oil of theobroma, strength 4 gr. of morphine hydrochloride in each; (3) Tinctura Chloroformi et Morphinae, strength A, gr. in Io minims; (4) Trochiscus Mor-
phinae, gr. in each; (5) Trochiscus Morphinae et Ipecacuanhae,
strength gr. of morphine hydrochloride and 1 gr. See also:ipecacuanha in each. From Morphinae Acetas, a See also: As contrasted with opium it differs in being less astringent and constipating. Morphine is the greatest See also:anodyne we possess, and no See also:drug yet discovered equals it in pain-relieving See also:power. The most frequent mode of See also:administration is the hypodermic method, on See also:account of the extreme rapidity with which it is absorbed. In pain due to violent See also:sciatica See also:relief and even permanent cure has been obtained by the injection of morphine directly into the muscle of the affected See also:part, and in the treatment of renal and hepatic See also:colic morphine given subcutaneously will relieve the acute pain consequent on the passage of biliary and urinary calculi. A violent See also:paroxysm of See also:asthma may be arrested by the administration of morphine subcutaneously, but the practice should not be continued, as there is See also:great danger in a chronic disease that the patient may become the victim of morphinism. Morphine is recognized as one of the most useful drugs in the treatment of eclampsia, See also:early injection often arresting the fits. In the cough of See also:phthisis See also:minute doses are of service, but in this particular disease morphine is frequently better replaced by codeine or by heroin, which checks irritable coughs without the narcotism following upon the administration of morphine. In See also:bronchitis with profuse expectoration the use of morphine is particularly dangerous, as it is likely to check the cough so necessary for getting rid of the secretion, but in the converse See also:condition it usefully allays the harassing cough by diminishing the excitability of the See also:respiratory centre. In the dyspnoea of advanced valvular disease of the See also:heart morphine relieves the See also:distress and restlessness, and induces sleep. It should however be withheld if the heart has undergone fatty degeneration. Morphine is a See also:sheet See also:anchor in the. later stages of See also:cancer and other painful diseases, rendering the See also:life of the patient one of See also:comparative comfort. If given in excess the drug is eliminated by way of the intestines and kidneys. It is also excreted in the See also:milk; hence the danger in the administration of large doses of morphine to See also:nursing mothers. Morphine-scopolamine See also:anaesthesia was introduced in 1902 by Steinbiickel. It has been used by some surgeons for the See also:production of anaesthesia previous to the administration of ether or See also:chloroform, but the use of the method is now more usually relegated to obstetric practice. Morphinism (Morphinomania).—Chronic morphine poisoning is very See also:common, as morphine taken constantly creates a See also:habit. Once acquired the habitue depends on the drug for a comfortable existence, and as the organism becomes quickly tolerant of the alkaloid the See also:original dose no longer suffices. The See also:total amount of morphine indulged in by the habitual morphinist may reach an astonishing figure; 15 grs. a See also:day is said to be common, and some medical writers See also:record quantities such as 6o to 70 grs. in the 24 See also:hours in extreme cases. The early stages of morphinism are marked by moral degeneration; the patient seems to lose all•sense of right and wrong, and will See also:lie most plausibly and even thieve to obtain the drug; See also:personal disorderliness, disregard of See also:time, neglect of business and decline of See also:family See also:affection become soon evident. See also:Physical symptoms also appear; the See also:face assumes an earthy colour, the See also:body wastes, See also:constipation is usually See also:present to an extreme degree, the secretions become arrested, loss of appetite and indigestion follow and the mouth is parched. The nails become brittle and the skin dry, sterility shows itself in See also:women and sexual See also:impotence in men. While not directly causing See also:death, morphinism so lowers the bodily See also:powers that the patient is easily carried off by some intercurrent malady. The sudden withdrawal of the drug from a morphine habitue is followed by a See also:train of alarming symptoms. As the time approaches for the usual dose there is marked restlessness, followed by excitement and later by chills, pallor, sinking, See also:nausea, with perhaps vomiting and See also:diarrhoea. Horrible See also:mental depression and See also:melancholia are present, and there may be hallucinations of See also:vision and See also:hearing passing into violent See also:delirium. At this See also:stage collapse may set in, the patient become faint, the limbs twitch, the See also:radical See also:pulse become imperceptible, and unconsciousness supervene. The condition may even go on to a fatal result should morphine be continuously withheld, but injection of even a small quantity of morphine causes these symptoms to cease abruptly. The sudden withdrawal of morphine should therefore never be practised with takers of large quantities of the drug, but gradually diminishing doses given by the physician should be substituted. For the successful treatment of morphinism, See also:complete See also:isolation of the patient is necessary in a See also:place where he is supervised so that he can obtain no morphine. Isolation in a See also:home is far the best, as See also:friends may give way to entreaties and servants be bribed. The " tapering off " of the dose is the best method. See also:Absence from home and strict super-vision lasting over a See also:long See also:period, usually a See also:year, are necessary to prevent relapse. The lowered bodily See also:health requires to be built up, and a long See also:sea voyage under adequate supervision is usually recommended. Additional information and Commentsmy black lab was diagnosed with bone cancer a year ago. his back left leg, over the last year deteriorated to the point where we had to amputate, or he'd fracture it. he has been on tramadol, which is a morphine like drug, for the last 6 months. one week after surgery, we took him off of this drug, because he no longer needs pain relief. we have, however, noticed that he seems depressed. can a dog go through drug withdrawal, like humans? should i have weined him off of this slowly? please let me know your thoughts. thanks. mary
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