The Mystery of Morphine

    Morphine is a drug usually used in anesthesia. It is obtained from opium and acts as a painkiller to the central nervous system.The most therapeutically important effect of morphine on CNS is analgesia. Although the patient does not always prevent the perception of pain, morphine decreases the pain-related reaction and increases the person's endurance capacity, and even if he hears the pain, he feels comfortable and peaceful. Morphine can euphoria by reducing or eliminating anxiety, anxiety, and mental tension of the patient. Morphine sedates in man. It has no anticonvulsant effect; on the contrary, it increases the sensitivity against convulsive drugs. The most important side effect of morphine; respiratory depression; reduces both speed and depth of breathing.
    The origin of morphine dates back to the time when Paracelsus, a scientist and alchemist, said that laudanum (opium tincture) should be used as a pain reliever. Of course he recommended that it should be used sparingly. The popularity of laudanum increased in 1757 with the interest of the East India Company in opium trade. In 1806, German scientist Friedrich Sertürner identified an alkaloid extracted from the poppy plant as morphine. After 13 years, morphine was introduced as a medicine for the treatment of alcohol and opium addiction. However, it has been noticed that in the following years it creates addiction in morphine. Morphine was widely used during the American Civil War.
    Morphine is obtained from opium obtained from the milk of poppy plant by various chemical methods. Obtaining morphine in solution from opium requires evaporation and re-dissolving with calcium chloride solution. After separation of a solution, the liquid portion is evaporated several times and the remaining morphine and codeine crystals are collected. These are recrystallized after being dissolved with the help of ammonia. Thus, morphine is separated from the codeine remaining in the solution.