• The name Morphine originates from Morpheus – the Greek God of dreams.
• Morphine is an alkaloid of opium – white crystals, has bitter taste and alkaline reaction. It is very sparingly soluble in cold water but soluble in boiling water.
• Morphine hydrochloride and morphine sulfate are medicinal preparations and morphine acetate is a non–official preparation, the dose of each being 8 to 20 mg. These salts are bitter in taste, neutral in reaction and are 5 to 8 times more powerful than opium.
• Morphine has a depressant action on the cortex, the respiratory and cough centers in the medulla are depressed but the vagus and vomiting centers are stimulated.
• The spinal cord is also stimulated. Its most outstanding effect is pain relief, partly due to depression of the pain perception in cerebral area and partly due to its euphoric effect.
(Contributed by Dr Sudhir Gupta)
No comments:
Post a Comment