Opium was known and frequently used in Roman society. Medical practice recognized its usefulness as an analgesic, soporific, anti-tussic or anti-diarrheic agent, as well as other currently unsupported uses with quasi-magical properties. It was additionally used as an ingredient in antidotes, panaceas and poisons. The authors present a non-exhaustive compilation of opium use according to medical...

During a cross-sectional study, patients who were admitted to the orthopedic department of the Urmia University of Medical Sciences were asked about opium/opioid abuse. Demographic characteristics, the pattern of consumption, the substance, the duration of the use, the duration of hospital stay and the cause of their injuries were recorded. Among 2,867 patients, 74 (2.5%) patients (71 men and 3...

Background: Fertility is considered as a life conservative phenomenon among married couples which can be obliterated by various conditions affecting both males and females. In the other hand addiction is a problem which increasingly developed among the various populations throughout the world, and there are evidences that addiction may affect the hypothalamous-pituitary-gonadal axis and sexual ...

Opium has been cultivated in Afghanistan since 1100 A.D., although production has steadily increased since 1979. Currently, Afghanistan produces three-quarters of the global opium supply, with injection drug use and HIV currently following the opium trade route through Central Asia. Although systematic studies are lacking, heroin use appears to be on the rise in Afghanistan. The purpose of this...

BACKGROUND The use of narcotics such as opium exposes addicts as susceptible targets of different diseases so that they might easily be exposed to different diseases such as fungal infections. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of addiction to opium and fungal infection on plasma levels of certain cytokines including interleukin-4 (IL-4), IL-6, IL-17, Interferon gamma (IFN-γ) an...

BACKGROUND In clinical practice, the level of sensory block in spinal anesthesia in opium abusers is lower than that in non-abusers because of adaptive changes caused by opium use. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to investigate the level of sensory block resulting from the intrathecal administration of 0.5% bupivacaine in opium abuser patients undergoing lower extremity and lower abdomin...

background: given the paucity of data on possible testis changes in opioid dependents, we sought to compare the testis volumes between a group of opium dependents and a group of healthy controls. objective: comparison of testis volume between opium dependents and healthy controls. materials and methods: this case-control study recruited 100 men with opium dependency (cases) and 100 healthy men ...

Objective To describe an outbreak of lead poisoning among opium users in the Islamic Republic of Iran and estimate the number of affected people in the country. Methods We used data from the country's largest poison treatment centre to illustrate the epidemiology of an outbreak of lead poisoning in oral opium users. We describe the government's referral and treatment guidelines in response to...

introduction: addiction imposes a large medical, social and economic burden on societies. currently, there is no effective treatment for addiction. our struggle to decipher the different mechanisms involved in addiction requires a proper understanding of the brain regions which promote this devastating behavior. previous studies have shown a pivotal role for insula in cigarette smoking. in this...

Background: Many reports are available about the increasing rate of mortality due to overuse of opioids. It has been suggested that sleep apnea can be a cause of mortality because of overuse of opioids. Opium use is common in Iran. This study aimed to assess the effect of opium on polysomnographic findings in opium addicts with sleep apnea syndrome. Materials and Methods: In this prospective ca...