Principles & Practice of Pain Medicine, 2e > Part VI. Pain Therapies > A. Pharmacologic Treatments > Chapter 58. Opioid Pharmacotherapy Arthur G. Lipman and Kenneth C. Jackson II

Opioid Pharmacotherapy: Introduction

"Opium is a heterogeneous drug derived from the milky exudate of the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum. The word opium is derived from the Greek word for juice. This natural product, which contains over 20 different alkaloids, has been used to control human discomfort for over five millennia. Opium was used clinically in the early days of European medicine, but it fell into disfavor because of toxic outcomes from nonstandardized drugs that were not used with necessary care. Paracelsus repopularized the use of opium in the 16th century, and by the second half of that century, clinical use of opium was understood and adopted by physicians throughout the continent...."