The Different Effects of Opiate Addiction
Drug addiction is a gigantic global crisis. Opium-derived compounds turn out to be some of the widespread addictive drugs nowadays. Opium-derived compounds are highly obtainable and tremendously distributed almost anywhere. Before going into the details of opiate addiction, its nature, and its treatment techniques, it is important to know more about the opiate first.
On the whole, an opiate is a substance that comes from the opium plant. The main kinds of opium-derived compounds include codeine, papaverine, thebaine, heroin, and morphine. Interestingly, two of the main kinds of opium-derived compounds, heroine and morphine, have identical chemical structures. Due to this characteristic, heroin can be traced in urine examinations when morphine is being administered to the body. According to medical science, heroin has the ability to be a central nervous system sedative and it has the possibility to access the brain more quickly when compared to morphine. As a matter of fact, both medications are even used as pain relievers and sedatives that provide relaxing results.
(1) Morphine: Morphine is the most popular and the most available opium-based drug in the world today. Morphine is a type of amino acid derivatives. Morphine is very essential in the medical field due to the fact that it is used in the treatment of disorders that include the swelling of the lungs. An oversupply of morphine can create lots of complications to the physical condition of the drug dependent person. The health complications that results from an overdose of morphine include hypoventilation, pulmonary edema, congestive cardiac failure, respiratory system failure, coma, as well as death.
(2) Codeine: Codeine is quite related to morphine, content-wise. Codeine is also used as a prescribed drug for treating tusis, severe and acute pain, bowel syndrome, and diarrhea. An overdose of codeine can generate several complications like itching, nausea, euphoria, miosis, dry mouth, vomiting, urinary retention, constipation, drowsiness, hypotension, and respiratory complications.
(3) Papaverine and Thebaine: The structure of thebaine is rather akin to the structure of codeine and morphine. Thebaine is also known as paramorphine. This type of drug is not applied alone. Several drugs that are used with thebaine include oxycodone, naloxone, oxymorphone, nalbuphine, etorphine, buprenorphine, and naltrexone. An oversupply of thebaine is extremely comparable to the side-effects of codeine and morphine.
(4) Heroin: Heroin is considered to be a semi-synthetic tranquilizer. Since the demand for this opiate is really grand, heroin enterprise is known to be one of the fastest growing illegal industries. The most popular way of misusing heroin is the application of the substance to the body by means of an injection. Heroin also goes by the brand name Diamorphine. An addiction to heroin-types of opiates may cause AIDS and other venereal diseases. An oversupply of heroin may lead to acute difficulties like frequent constipation, kidney failure, hypoventilation, profound unconsciousness, as well as death.
The only source of opiates is the poppy plant. The quality of opiates depends on the amount of moisture in the poppy plant.
The liquid kind of opiates goes by the name of methadone, a medication that is applied in the detoxification of drug dependent people. An oversupply of methadone may cause addiction. Opium-derived compounds possess a few beneficial effects on the body in situations where they are recommended by doctors as painkillers. When overdosed, opiates may lead to a few serious troubles. Addiction to opium-derived compounds may initiate physical and psychological dependence. Muscle spasm is a usual side-effect caused by the constant use of opiates. Respiratory complications are also common side-effects of opiate drugs. Other effects of opiate addiction include hypotension, skin rashes, cracked lips, and constipation. Addiction to opium-based compounds may hurt the nervous system and it may bring about drowsiness and coma. In the end, a constant misuse of opiates may lead to the death of the addictive patient.
The treatment procedures for opiate addiction may be conducted in a non-residential or a residential basis. The entire treatment process in both instances is separated into two phases: the detox and the advising. The Detoxification process includes the riddance of harmful substances from addictive patient?s body. In advising, the person who has drug addiction problems is convinced to pursue a better life.
While the drug dependent person is bearing a variety of treatment methods, encouragement from his relatives, his peers, and the community are highly important.
Berlin Flores is a health columnist who specializes in opiate addiction topics. Visit the opiate addiction home page http://www.drugrehabprogram.net for more data related to opiate addiction.