Opioid therapy is treatment with opioids, a class of drugs that derive from or mimic natural substances found in the opium poppy and act on opioid receptors in the brain and other organs to produce morphine-like effects, chiefly pain relief. Beyond pain relief and anesthesia, opioids are also used to suppress diarrhea, treat opioid use disorder itself through replacement therapy, and suppress cough, and the drug naloxone can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. Opioid use carries significant risks: tolerance can require escalating doses over time, stopping the drug can produce physical dependence, and the drugs carry a real potential for addiction, with common side effects including itchiness, sedation, nausea, constipation and, in overdose or combined with other depressants such as benzodiazepines, potentially fatal respiratory depression.
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1. Wikipedia
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia Foundationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opioid, lead sectionQuote, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opioid, lead section
Opioids are a class of drugs that derive from, or mimic, natural substances found in the opium poppy plant.
2. Wikipedia: Opioid
WikipediaHistory, Naturally occurring opioidsQuote, History, Naturally occurring opioids
Use of the opium poppy for medical, recreational, and religious purposes can be traced to the fourth century BC, when ideograms on Sumerians clay tablets mention the use of "Hul Gil", a "plant of joy".
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