..Super painkillers:Morphine and Heroin

​​Morphine, an opium derivative,is named after the greek god of sleep, Morpheus. A pharmacist's assistant named Werturner developed it in the mid 19th century as an alternative to opium. It was so powerful that physicians reckoned it was 10 times stronger than opium. Not only did it kill pain, it was also accompanied by a feeling of euphoria. However,the side effects, both  psychiatric and physical, included confusion, nausea,violent vomiting, constipation, slowed breathing and, in an overdose, death. Doctors very quickly learned that it was highly addictive, more so even than opium, but it was, and still is, a great painkiller. So it was used with caution... and became an important tool in the medical toolkit. And it became even more important when the hypodermic needle was perfected in 1853. Robert would definitely carry a syringe set and soluble morphine in his medical bag. And what about heroin? It is interesting to read advertisements from 1902. Remember Bayer aspirin? Bayer and other companies also marketed heroin tablets for cough suppression.

Heroin is also extracted from the seed pod of the Asian poppy. It converts to morphine in the brain and is extremely addictive. it binds to receptors in the brain stem which control automatic processes such as blood pressure and breathing. Along with opium, it was marketed for asthma and cough suppression. Doctors of the era would probably carry a bottle of Fraser's Tablets, a compound of heroin in tablet form , for use in a severe asthma attack. By Robert's time, they had realized that such medication must be used sparingly. No one of course fully understood the pathology of addiction, but wise physicians saw the dreadful consequences of opiate use, especially after the first  World War. See 1902 advertisement below


To learn more about morphine and heroin, go to:
http:wings.buffalo.edu/aru/preprohibition.htm

Next week:  Some more of the instruments in Robert's medical bag.

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