Morphine News and Research

Latest Morphine News and Research

FDA approves Relistor for opioid-induced constipation - helps reduce effects of drugs like morphine on bowel function

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Relistor (methylnaltrexone bromide) to help restore bowel function in patients with late-stage, advanced illness who are receiving opioids on a continuous basis to help alleviate their pain.

24 Apr 2008

Popular painkiller Nurofen Plus in danger of becoming a prescription only drug

Australia's National Drugs and Poisons Scheduling Committee (NDPSC) is apparently considering making one of the most commonly used over-the-counter (OTC) drugs available only with a prescription.

15 Apr 2008

Nurses accused of manslaughter plead not guilty

The nurses 48 year-old Jennifer Annique Valentine of Reedy Creek and 51-year-old Michael George Gibbons of Hope Island, allegedly failed to alert doctors to an emergency situation and as a result a patient died.

9 Apr 2008

Oral methadone dosing for chronic pain: practitioner's guide

Methadone, a strong opioid analgesic, is an effective and economical choice for the management of cancer pain and chronic noncancer pain, both as a first line medication and as a replacement opioid.

14 Mar 2008

Influencing factors and recommendations that enhance the autonomy of cancer patients in clinically terminal situations

The PhD, defended by Ana María Martínez Fernández at the University of the Basque Country, proposes a series of recommendations that contribute to improving clinical and care tasks of the professionals who treat terminal cancer patients.

4 Mar 2008

Australian neuroscientist tests Chantix

UQ pharmacy graduate Dr Selena Bartlett is starting clinical trials of a new drug that could potentially curb addictions such as smoking, drinking, gambling even depression.

20 Feb 2008

Chronic pain is a disease in its own right

The concept that chronic pain is a disease in its own right is leading to new specific treatments aimed at physical, psychological, and environmental components of this major disease, including genetic predisposition, according to a world renowned pain medicine expert.

17 Feb 2008

Gene therapy for pain

Researchers in the Department of Medicine and Department of Neurosciences at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have discovered that chronic pain can be successfully treated with novel targeted gene therapy.

23 Jan 2008

Gene therapy promises relief from chronic pain

Researchers in the U.S. have discovered that chronic pain can be successfully treated with a new gene therapy technique.

22 Jan 2008

Popular sleeping pill Stilnox in danger of being classed with morphine, narcotics and amphetamines

A popular sleeping pill that has reportedly triggered bizarre side-effects in some people, could be placed by Australian drug regulators into the same class as morphine, narcotics and amphetamines.

22 Jan 2008

Experts say far too much is spent on needless indigestion drugs

According to two experts in Britain the National Health Service (NHS) is needlessly spending at least 100m pounds per year on indigestion drugs.

7 Jan 2008

Minorities less likely to receive pain-relieving opioid drugs in ER

Blacks and Hispanics who go to hospital emergency departments in pain are significantly less likely than whites to get pain-relieving opioid drugs, according to a new study funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

7 Jan 2008

A genetic influence on alcohol addiction found - lack of endorphin

The research reveals that a subject's brain with low beta-endorphin levels becomes accustomed to the presence of an exogenous surplus, diminishing its own supply and triggering dependence on an external source--in this case, alcohol.

19 Dec 2007

Morphine for cancer pain relief

Cancer patients are suffering unnecessarily because they wrongly believe that morphine and other opioids are only used as “comfort for the dying” and as a “last resort” rather than seeing them as legitimate pain killers that can improve their quality of life.

10 Dec 2007

Moderate, long-term pain medication use does not impair a person's ability to drive safely

Moderate, long-term pain medication use does not impair a person's ability to drive safely, according to a study by Dr. Asokumar Buvanendran, associate professor, Department of Anesthesiology at Rush University Medical Center, Chicago.

21 Nov 2007

New non-addictive pain-killers

Two University of Adelaide pharmacologists working with one the world's leading neuroscientists have helped pave the way for the development of new pain-killing drugs that are not addictive.

20 Nov 2007

Chemical peroxynitrite tolerates pain

The repeated use of opiate drugs such as morphine to relieve chronic pain results in individuals having to take higher and higher doses of the drug to achieve equivalent pain relief (they are said to exhibit antinociceptive tolerance).

2 Nov 2007

Preventing Morphine tolerance

Tolerance to the pain-relieving effects of morphine - which builds rapidly with prolonged use - can be prevented by blocking a key substance that's formed when the drug is taken, researchers at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine have discovered.

2 Nov 2007

Search for new uses for heroin and marijuana

The world's leading expert on the opium poppy has joined forces with researchers working on another infamous drug-producing plant – cannabis – in hopes of finding new uses for the much-maligned sources of heroin and marijuana.

1 Nov 2007

Acupuncture before and during surgery reduces the need for powerful painkillers

A new study has found that using acupuncture before and during surgery significantly reduces the level of pain and level of painkillers needed by patients following surgery.

17 Oct 2007