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Subject:
Addictive anesthetics circa 1920
Category: Health > Medicine Asked by: ampersam-ga List Price: $5.00 |
Posted:
01 May 2004 10:57 PDT
Expires: 31 May 2004 10:57 PDT Question ID: 339436 |
Hi there. I'm setting this as a five dollar answer -- but if you think it needs more time, (and therefore more $) please let me know. My question, which relates to a piece of fiction I'm working on, is as follows: was either morphine or codeine administered orally (and esp. in pill form) as a pain killer in the U.S. between the years of 1915 and 1925? If so, can you find some documentation? And if not, can you help me to find other habit-forming oral (and ideally pill form) anesthetics that might have been used during that time? For my purposes, this anesthetic need not have been used extensively, but must have been available to a physician in the western US circa 1920. |
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There is no answer at this time. |
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Subject:
Re: Addictive anesthetics circa 1920
From: probonopublico-ga on 01 May 2004 11:43 PDT |
How about Cocaine? http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m2005/2_35/82066768/p1/article.jhtml |
Subject:
Re: Addictive anesthetics circa 1920
From: pinkfreud-ga on 01 May 2004 11:55 PDT |
I suggest that codeine is your best choice. It has been widely available since the mid-19th century, is commonly prescribed in tablet form, and is (like all opiates) addictive. Morphine loses potency when taken orally, and thus is less likely to be taken in tablet form. Note that these drugs are not anesthetics, but analgesics. |
Subject:
Re: Addictive anesthetics circa 1920
From: voila-ga on 01 May 2004 12:17 PDT |
You might have look at butalbital (Fiorinal) which has been around since the '20s. It *can* be habit-forming but has no addictive properties; it's more in a dependency category. http://www.headachedrugs.com/archives/butalbital.html |
Subject:
Re: Addictive anesthetics circa 1920
From: pinkfreud-ga on 01 May 2004 12:31 PDT |
Another possibility is heroin (diamorphine). Long before it became a "street drug," heroin was a pharmaceutical product. It was dispensed in liquid form (for injection) and as tablets. Here's an ad for Bayer products, including heroin: http://www.a1b2c3.com/drugs/opi004.htm |
Subject:
Re: Addictive anesthetics circa 1920
From: njbagel-ga on 01 May 2004 17:04 PDT |
In regards to morphine and codeine, they are both ANALGESICS and NOT ANESTHETICS. An analgesic is a compound that relieves pain by altering perception of nociceptive stimuli without procucing anesthesis or loss of consciousness. An anesthetic is a compound that reversibly depresses neuronal function, producing a loss of ability to perceive pain and/or other sensations. I assume you are looking for an addictive analgesic and not an addictive anesthetic. If you are in fact looking for an addictive anesthetic, you may want to visit the following site - http://medhist.ac.uk/browse/mesh/C0002903L0002903.html - it provides links to many other sites documenting the history of anesthesia. -d |
Subject:
Re: Addictive anesthetics circa 1920
From: ampersam-ga on 01 May 2004 18:04 PDT |
Thanks, to all, for your help. And thanks to pinkfreud and njbagel for correcting my faulty terminology. |
Subject:
Re: Addictive anesthetics circa 1920
From: probonopublico-ga on 02 May 2004 00:05 PDT |
For what it's worth, Cocaine is reported as having been the first Local Anaesthetic: The first local anaesthetic Dr Adrian Pearce of Guy?s Hospital will discuss the discovery of cocaine as the first local anaesthetic. 'The local anaesthetic action of cocaine was first noticed by Dr Karl Koller, an eye surgeon in 1884. Soon it was being used for other types of surgery by injection into the tissues, around nerves and into the spinal fluid. Local anaesthesia with cocaine rapidly became very popular because it provided painless surgery without the substantial dangers and unpleasantness of general anaesthetics at that time. However, the toxic effects of cocaine, particularly after injection of large doses, became apparent and led to the search for safer.' http://www.rsm.ac.uk/new/pr140.htm |
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