Laudanum

Laudanum Laumontite Laundering fastness Launder-ometer test Laundries Laundry bleaches Laundry bluing Laundry cleaners Laundry products Laundry sour Laur amide... 

Opium is the dried, powdered sap of the unripe seed pod of Papaver somniferum, a poppy plant indigenous to Asia minor. Theophrastus described its medical properties in the third century BC, but the Sumerians, ca BC 4000, probably perceived its utility. Arab physicians knew of the dmg, and Arab traders carried it to the Orient where it was used as a treatment for dysentery. Paracelsus is credited with repopularizing the dmg in western Europe in the early sixteenth century by formulating opium into "laudanum", which is still in use. More than 20 different alkaloids (qv) of two different classes comprise 25% of the weight of dry opium. The benzylisoquinolines, characterized by papaverine [58-74-2] (1.0%), a smooth muscle relaxant, and noscapine [128-62-1] (6.0%), an antitussive agent, do not have any analgesic effects. The phenanthrenes, the second group, are the more common and include 10% morphine (1, = R = H), 0.5% codeine [76-57-3], C gH2 N03, (1, R = H, R = CH3), and 0.2 thebaine [115-37-7], C 2H2 N03, (2). 

And poor Alina, on Sunday, resting her bmises. Had she perhaps taken a spoonful of laudanum that day to ease the pain ... 

Opium Street Names Auntie Emma, big O. black stuff, block, gum, hop, ope, tar (brand generic called tincture of opium, laudanum, paregoric (CIII), B O suppositories [CIII]) Use Some medical uses (antidiarrheal, antitussive, antispas-modic) illegally used to produce morphine and h oin can be swallowed or smoked Actions Narcotic contains morphine Effects Pain relief, euphoria, drowsiness/N, constipation, confusion, sedation, resp dqjression and arrest, tol -ance, addiction, unconsciousness, coma, death... 

There seems no doubt that Paracelsus discovered many facts which became of great importance in chemistry he prepared the inflammable gas we now call hydrogen, by the reaction between iron filings and oil of vitriol he distinguished metals from substances which had been classed with metals but lacked the essential metalline character of ductility he made medicinal preparations of mercury, lead and iron, and introduced many new and powerful drugs, notably laudanum. Paracelsus insisted that medicine is a branch of chemistry, and that the restoration of the body of a patient to a condition of chemical equilibrium is the restoration to health. 

Opium was, in fact, widely used in British society. It was sold in pharmacies and prescribed by doctors as a remedy for all sorts of ills. Opium was combined with liquor and sold in bars. A bottle of this popular mixture of opium and liquor, called laudanum, was commonplace in English households (see Sydenham s Laudanum box). While the English opinion of opium eventually changed, its initial acceptance as a rather harmless luxury item might have given merchants a clear conscious when pushing its sale on China. 

Invented in 1527, laudanum, a designation for a number of products containing opium, iiquor, and a variety of other ingredients, was the most popuiar form of opium consumption in the West. Of all the laudanum products available, the most popular was a brand called Sydenham s Laudanum, which contained one pound of sherry wine, two ounces of opium, one ounce of saffron, one ounce of powder of cinnamon, and one ounce of powder of cloves. Its popularity stemmed from the sweetness of the sherry undercutting the natural bitterness of opium. For more than 400 years, this method of opium drinking remained widespread among Western nations. 

For thousands of years, before the advent of heroin or purified morphine (and the abundant consumption of laudanum in the West), opium was primarily consumed by smoking it. Smoking opium requires the habitue to engage in a complex process,... 

Opium Laudanum, paregoric Big 0, black stuff, black gum, hop II, III, V Swallowed, Smoked ... 

II High Yes Codeine, morphine, meperidine Same as Schedule 1 (Demerol), opium poppy, opium tincture (Laudanum), granulated opium, powdered opium, raw opium, oxycodone (OxyContin, Percocet), thebaine... 

Opium has been used medicinally throughout history. Writings of ancient physicians in many cultures espoused the virtues of opium as a remedy for all types of ailments including pain relief, cough suppression, and diarrhea. Remedies prepared by alchemists and ancient physicians often contained opium. Galen (131-200) prescribed opium for headaches, deafness, melancholy, epilepsy, asthma, and colic. The famous European physician Paracelsus (1493-1541) produced an alcoholic potion containing opium called laudanum. Varieties of laudanum were used for several hundred years as medicinal drinks and were readily available in apothecaries. 

Laudanum was any of a number of tinctures or mixtures of opium with other materials. In the nineteenth century tincture of opium was given the acronym GOM (God s Own Medicine). Opium was smoked and eaten recreationally and to boost the output of natives at hard labor thoughout the Near and Far East for hundreds of years. 

By the 16th century, laudanum, a more potent and consistent opium extract, had begun to be widely used in Western medicine. One writer, Thomas Syndenham, observed that Among the remedies which it has pleased the Almighty God to give to man to relieve his sufferings, none is so universal and efficacious as opium. 

Opioid derivatives used to treat diarrhea are listed in Table 27-3. Opium tincture (laudanum) and camphorated opium tincture (paregoric) are naturally occurring opiates that are very potent inhibitors of peristalsis. These natural agents are still available for treating diarrhea, but they have essentially been replaced by newer opioids such as diphenoxylate and loperamide. These newer opioids are somewhat less potent but may produce fewer side effects. 

Soon I was stitched and bandaged and set on a chair with my leg propped up on another. A fortifying glass of wine was thrust into my hand and the Maestro dispensed a spoonful of laudanum to soothe Bruno, for every attempt to hail him as a hero just upset him more. Mama herself washed my blood off the desk. My best hose were in rags and my shoe needed washing also. 

I can if I must. My calf had stopped bleeding at last—fortunately so, because I was going to run out of clothes soon. Bruno was sleeping off his laudanum, but I was resolved to go nowhere without my sword until we had all the fiends and murderers accounted for. You would wear a Carnival mask in a house of mourning ... 

We took Pulaki into the atelier and put him on the examination couch. I lit lamps while the Maestro dosed him with laudanum and proceeded to unwrap the bandage on his mutilated hand. Two fingers were so horribly crushed and swollen that the only thing to do was apply leeches and wait to see if they could reduce the swelling. 

As Europe began its slow emergence from the Dark Ages in the sixteenth century, opium began to reappear in medical journals on the continent. A century later, an English apothecary named Thomas Sydenham introduced Sydenham s Laudanum, pills made from opium, sherry, and herbs. They were popular remedies for a variety of ills. 

OFFICIAL NAMES Opium, laudanum, paregoric, Dover s powder... 

Insom-X see GBL GHB Invigorate see GBL GHB Ionamin see Diet pills Iophen DM NR see Dextromethorphan Ischott see Catha edulis Isobutyl nitrite see Inhalants Isocarboxazid Marplan see Antidepressants Isosorbide see Diuretics Iubulu see Catha edulis J La rocha see Rohypnol La salade see Catha edulis LA turnarounds see Dextroamphetamine Lady see Heroin Lady K see Ketamine Laevoamphetamine see Amphetamines Laudanum see Opium Laughing gas see Nitrous oxide LBJ see PCP (phencyclidine) Leaky bolla see PCP (phencyclidine) Leaky leak see PCP (phencyclidine) Lean (codeine cough syrup) see Codeine... 

---