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Morphine: Difference between revisions
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== History of Morphine == | == History of Morphine == | ||
[[Image:example.jpg|thumb|150px|left|Description]] | [[Image:example.jpg|thumb|150px|left|Description]] | ||
Freidrich Wilhelm Adam Serturner (1783-1841), a German pharmacist's assistant, first derived morphine from opium in 1803. After several experiments, | Freidrich Wilhelm Adam Serturner (1783-1841), a German pharmacist's assistant, first derived morphine from opium in 1803. Morphine, like opium, comes from the opium poppy (''Papaver somniferum''). Specifically, it comes from the milky sap produced by the mature buds of these poppies<ref>[http://waynesword.palomar.edu/opium.htm]</ref>. After several experiments, Serturner isolted an organic alkaloid from this sap and found that this alkaloid was ten times more powerful than opium itself. He named this new substance morphine after Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams, due to morphine's ability to induce sleep<ref name=morphineaddictionhelp/>. Sertürner and Company first marketed morphine to the public in 1817<ref name=newsmedical>[http://www.news-medical.net/health/Morphine-History.aspx]</ref>. | ||
Morphine became more commonly used in the medical community after French physician Francois Magendie published a paper in 1818 describing the use of morphine to treat pain in a young girl and help her sleep<ref name=morphineaddictionhelp/>. Interestingly, morphine was often used at first to cure opium addictions as well as alcohol addictions, because doctors at the time considered morphine less harmful than alcohol<ref name=infoplease>[http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/sci/A0859772.html]</ref>. The drug gained increasing popularity in the 1920s, and it became even more widely used after the invention of the hypodermic needle in 1853. During the Civil War, morphine was widely used to relieve pain in soldiers who were injured or had to undergo surgery. This led to roughly 400,000 soldiers who came home with "soldier's disease" (morphine addiction). Morphine was also used to treat soldiers in the European Franco-Prussian War and many other wars<ref name=infoplease/>. Today, soldiers still carry morphine with them in case of being severely injured<ref name=toxipedia/>. | Morphine became more commonly used in the medical community after French physician Francois Magendie published a paper in 1818 describing the use of morphine to treat pain in a young girl and help her sleep<ref name=morphineaddictionhelp/>. Interestingly, morphine was often used at first to cure opium addictions as well as alcohol addictions, because doctors at the time considered morphine less harmful than alcohol<ref name=infoplease>[http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/sci/A0859772.html]</ref>. The drug gained increasing popularity in the 1920s, and it became even more widely used after the invention of the hypodermic needle in 1853. During the Civil War, morphine was widely used to relieve pain in soldiers who were injured or had to undergo surgery. This led to roughly 400,000 soldiers who came home with "soldier's disease" (morphine addiction). Morphine was also used to treat soldiers in the European Franco-Prussian War and many other wars<ref name=infoplease/>. Today, soldiers still carry morphine with them in case of being severely injured<ref name=toxipedia/>. | ||
