Opioid Anagesics: The Most Potent In The Alleviation Of Pain

Opioids, such as Vicodin, Oxycodone Percocet relieve pain, but are known to be physically addictive. Dependence is often accompanied by tolerance, or the need to take higher doses of a medication to get the same effect says the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIH). When tolerance occurs, it becomes difficult for a physician to determine whether a patient is developing a drug problem, or has a real medical need for higher doses to control their pain.

Last semester in clinical, there was a patient with sickle cell anemia and he automatically sparked an interest in me. The patient was quite young and was in so much pain that he could not even bear to be touched by the nurse and reported a pain level of 8. Before my encounter with this patient, I did not know much about sickle cell anemia and decided to do some research on this disease. In my research, I learned that a majority of these patients go through acute pain episodes that occur chronically. After learning this and thinking about the young boy in the hospital, I wanted to discover more about how the pain in these patients are managed and controlled.

Opioids are pain-killers that are meant to alleviate short-term or chronic pain, but some people become addicted to the euphoric and sedative effect they produce. When a person takes too much of opioid medication their heart rate drop to dangerous levels and their respiratory may stop completely, which can lead to death. Drugs in this group include Codeine, Fentanyl, Oxycodone, Morphine, Methadone, Oxycodone, and Vicodin. These are among the most commonly prescribed and abused of all prescription

Pain medications result in complicated side effects beyond addiction and tolerance which is Opioid-Induced Hyperalgesia (OIH). “There’s an unfortunate irony for people who rely on morphine, oxycodone, and other opioid painkillers: The drug that’s supposed to offer you relief can actually make you more sensitive to pain over time” (“Why Taking Morphine Makes Pain Worse”, 2016). This effect of the drug is known as hyperalgesia but in the presence of opioids; this is known as Opioid-induced hyperalgesia. Opioid is a well know drug originated from the opium poppy plant and it has been around for thousands of years for both recreational and medicinal purposes. The most active purpose for this drug is to relieve pain which is also known as a painkiller. There is a law stating that all contents must be labeled on all medicines containing opioid; “Congresswoman Annie Kuster (NH-02) welcomed today’s announcement by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that it would begin requiring warnings for medications that contain opioids” (“FDA Policy to Require Labeling of Prescription Medications Containing Opioids”, 2016). This drug should not be taken without direct orders from a doctor nor should it be misused. Scientists have observed that the more an individual consumes, the less effective the drug becomes. This leads to a viscous cycle of people relying on higher doses. Opioid sets off a chain of signals in the spinal cord that heightens pain rather than reducing it, even after the

The major reason for opioids to be used as a part of medicine is to relieve pain by

As mentioned above, opioids are extremely helpful in killing acute and cancer pain. Because opioid receptors are G-protein coupled reactions, the inhibitory G-protein is usually coupled or attached with the receptors (Ghelardini et al., 2015, page 219). The onset of reaction in inhibit the pain is rapid and effective due to multiple inhibitory actions at the terminal site (refer to the previous section of mechanism of action). Besides, the interaction of opioids gradually increases the threshold of pain neuron as well as attenuates the pain subjective evaluation (Ghelardini et al., 2015, page 220).

One advantage to using opioids is that they have been proven to be very effective at reliving pain, opiates also can be very cheap. Morphine has been around for little over a century, but it is still used frequently to control pain most likely after major surgery.

The first 48 hours of pain analysis and treating the pain of the patient to the hospice (or end-of-life patient in any other stetting) are crucial. However, the patient may be unable to speak and articulate his pain, or may be able to inadequately express the symptoms. One of the major concerns for those who are at the end of life is

Philippe Lucas’s article “Cannabis as an Adjunct to or Substitute for Opiates in the Treatment of Chronic Pain” recommends using cannabis instead of opiates to relieve chronic pain. He also proposes cannabis may be used to treat prescription opiate abuse by patients suffering from chronic pain and depicts cannabis as a medicine and not a gateway drug. Lucas suggests national governments abandon misinformation emphasizing drug prohibition and start supporting the claim that cannabis effectively treats a variety of illnesses including chronic pain, and is a possible “drug exit” for problematic substance abuse. Appeals to logos, ethos, and pathos are frequently present, creating the ideal balance of evidence and theory regarding medicinal cannabis and opiates.

In the United States alone it has been estimated that nearly 50 million people suffer from chronic pain. However, chronic pain continues to be undermanaged with as many as 41% of patients reporting uncontrolled pain 1. Poor pain management outcomes are due in large part to a lack of a pharmacological intervention that is both efficacious for moderate-to-severe chronic pain and widely tolerable. Currently, the most efficacious treatment for moderate-to-severe chronic pain is the use of opioid agonists. Despite the efficacy of opioid therapy, in one survey 68% of physicians cited concerns about adverse events as a barrier to prescription of opioids for the maintenance of chronic pain1. Systemically delivered opioid agonists

Most opioid drugs will elicit these analgesic effects through the activation of the -opioid receptor (McDonald & Lambert, 2005). The currently available drugs that interact with opioid receptors include morphine, codeine and naloxone. A

Pain relief from narcotics is achieved by releasing endorphins that activate the naturally existing opioid receptors in the brain (Hanson et al., 2012, p. 255). There are two major issues that stem from usage of opioids foreign to the body. Morphine activates the opioid receptors in the brain that block pain/ induce pleasure (Hanson et al., 2012, p. 255). With extended use, the body with slow/halt the

Chronic non-cancer pain is a condition that need different alternatives in order to be treated while some patients could respond efficiently to some medications some others not. Nevertheless, in the market there are available enough options that offer a variety of strategies to treat pain, including opioids. Conversely, in the last years an increase in the abuse of pain reliever drugs containing opioids has increased alarmingly some specialist have termed it as “opioid abuse epidemic”.

A review of thepublished data focusing on the pharmacokinetics of opioids brought forth pertinent variations that is critical in making optimal analgesic choice.

Opioids are the most widely used and effective of analgesics for the treatment of severe pain. They act by binding to specific proteins called opioid receptors, which are found in the central nervous system. There are four known receptors mu, delta, kappa and opiate like receptor. The most common pain management receptor is the mu, it is also involved with mood enhancers and causes activation of dopamine that is associated with euphoria. When these drugs attach to their receptors, they drastically reduce the amount of pain. Opioids can also produce other effects such as, drowsiness, nausea, lowering of blood pressure and reducing respiration. Opioids can also produce a euphoric feeling for some users, as it is interferes with the reward pathways.