Assessment on "Opiates Morphine and Dose Response Curves for the Analgesic and Depressant Effects"

Assessment 7 pages (1855 words) Sources: 8

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Morphine has properties that may lend it to misuse. What are the reasons for this?

Morphine is highly addictive analgesic with strong effects on human and animals alike (Beach,1957). The use of the drug induces euphoria, relaxation, nervousness, sleepiness as well as drowsiness (Martin, 1961). The drug develops addiction and tolerance.Morphine has been indicated to produce a feeling of euphoria as well as other subjective effects in comparison with other opioids (Martin, 1961).

Morphine has been noted to be a very addictive substance. It has been noted to cause a lot of psychological dependence as well as physical dependence.Tolerance is also noted to be exhibited by this drug. The addiction potential of heroin is similar to that of heroin.

An explicit of this drug results in the development of very serious narcotic habits in just a matter of weeks. The iatrogenic rate of morphine addiction is noted in several studies as constant In the presence of some pain as well as other disorders a combination of psychological as well as physiological factors are indicated to tend to prevent the development of true addiction even the tolerance and physical addiction are noted to develop after a long opioid therapy.

The properties of morphine that are noted to cause addiction are the ones responsible for euphoria. Euphoria is the comprehensive removal of distress as well as all aspects of suffering. The feeling also leads to the promotion of empathy as well as sociability.

The body high as well as anxiolysis that is provided by morphine can cause the usage of very high doses in the total absence of pain for a long period of time. This can create a morbid craving for the illicit drugs in the users.

Morphine, being the prototype of the whole opioid class of drugs shows that it has properties that may tend it to serious misuse.

The an animal as well as human studies indicates that the clinical experience that the drug is one of the drugs on earth that cause the highest level of euphoria. The misuse of morphine has been indicated to involve the taking of more quantity of the prescribed medicine as well as the taking of the drug outside of the necessary medical supervision, injection of the oral formulation as well as the mixing of the drug with unapproved quantities of potentiators like alcohol as well as cocaine. This in the long run leads to the defeating of the otherwise stable extended-release mechanism through the chewing of tables as well as turning the drug into powder as well as the preparation of injectible s.The preparation of injectibles is noted to be a bit time consuming and is usually involved in as one of the most traditional methods of opium smoking.

The Neurobiology of morphine addiction

A review of literature indicates that the properties of morphine that lend due to its effects on a person's neurobiology.The British Pain Society (2007,p.6) indicated that misused opiates aor drugs directly or indirectly affect an individual's neurochemistry of their brain;s reward pathways. This they indicated to be axiomatic because the misuse would not occur if they never actually used the drug in certain quantities. The social as well as the environmental factors are note to play an integral role in the consequences as well as the vulnerability of an individual to the misuse of drugs such as morphine. The most crucial as well as important element of the drug action is the social as well as the environmental ones.

One of the main theories of addiction indicates that the misused drugs such as morphine are capable of 'hijacking' the natural drive as well as the motivational systems of an individual.

The ascending dopamine pathway of an individual which emanates from the btrain stem ventral tegmental region and then projecting right up through an individual's nucleus acumen and the frontal cortex area is very important for this process.

Part 2) Australia is one of the major producers of poppy-based drugs, such as morphine. Please develop a strategy to prevent the misuse of morphine for the government.

The strategy to be used by Australia in the fight against drug misuse is to involve the making of the following steps of actions'

Establishment of an Australian National Drug Misuse Database

The provision of a coordination as well as dialogue between the voluntary services as well as statutory services to all the health boards

The coordination of programmes that are related to drug misuse as well as AIDS at the health board level

The development of an effective mechanism for the evaluation of the existing as well as new services objectively in regard to the regional requirements in order to advice the healthcare providers with resources as funding at all levels

The development of better roles for the General Practitioners in the treatment as well as management of drug misuse at the community level with the use of a central support for the national Drug Treatment Centre.

The development as well as enactment of Community Drug Teams that would operate under the auspices of the larger health boards with the direct involvement of the General Practitioners as well as other health professionals

The increasing of the level of involvement of the various occupational rehabilitation services as well as statutory training in the rehabilitation of the drug misusers.

The strengthening as well as the existing Drug Treatment Centers as well as the general expansion of the level of Board membership

The increasing of the support as well as level of training of the various community-based groups in the provision of education as well as information on the forms and levels of drug abuse at the local level

The streamlining of the existing procedures used by the Misuse of |Drugs Acts to effectively deal with the alleged illegal and irresponsible drug prescribing by the various General Practitioners

The increasing of the powers for the existing Customs authorities in the combating of the drugs that are concealed in an individual' body cavities.

The development of proper Drug Eduvction Programme for various schools, teaching colleges as well as other educational departments in various parts of the country.

The extension of the level of n-service training for fo the various teachers in the war against drug-misuse.

Department of Education to involve the development of proper leisure activities for the young people as well as the promotion of ways of treating drug related issues as important parts and parcels of the informal educational system as well as sports programmes.

The establishment of various formal links between the community services, prisons as the educational and treatment functions

The legislation of the necessary laws that could be used in the confiscation of the various drug trafficking proceeds.

The development of various formal arrangements to co-ordinate the position of Australia]s international for a that is concerned with issues of drug misuse.

Morphine's dose response curve

Mention and note that the 2 lines are similar in shape but are using different doses, why do different doses produce different effects?

The dose produces different effects because of the level of dosage and therefore level of action by the drug in an individual.

The International Association for the Study of Pain (2001,p.1) indicated that the phenomenon of analgesic tolerance is what marks the difference between the two curves. Tolerance in this case is defined as the phenomenon in which the levels of chronic exposures to the drug is indicated to diminish its analgesic effects or the antinociceptive effects in order to create the need for a higher level of dose in order to maintain a similar effect. In other words, the organism which is less tolerant is less susceptible to the various pharmacological effects of the given drug as a result of the level of prior administration (Jaffe and Martin,1990).

Tolerance is defined by the British Pain Society (2007,p.6) describe tolerance as the pharmacological phenomenon in which identical doses of a given drug progressively indices a reducing level of effect. As a result, higher doses are needed in order to achieve a similar effect.

-- the first line (analgesic one) is a lower dose and used for pain relief, the second line (depressive one) is a higher dose and can have a depressive effect on the nervous system, describe what the 2 curves mean

Analgesic curve

The analgesic curve depicts the effects of the drug dosage over time. It shows the effects of the drug with continued/progressive increase in dosage up to a point when the effects of the drug produce no effects over time at a certain dosage. At this stage, the drug produces no more analgesic effects such as euphoria.Mucha and Kalant (1981) indicated that the flattening at the top of the curve is because of the high-dosage tolerance that is experirnced with continued increase in dosage over time.

Depressive curve

The depressive depicts the effects of the drug dosage over time. It shows the effects of the drug with continued/progressive increase in dosage up to a point when the effects of… READ MORE

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