Talk:Opioid analgesic

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Revision as of 07:45, 1 June 2010 by imported>Sandy Harris (questions)
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 Definition Synthetic narcotic that has opiate-like activities, which induces analgesia by mimicking endogenous opioids, at opioid receptors in the brain. [d] [e]
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 Workgroup category Health Sciences [Please add or review categories]
 Subgroup category:  Pain management
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Questions

I'd call this family of drugs "opiates". I understand "analgesic" but have never seen "opiod" before. Am I just hopelessly out of touch?

"narcotic" has one meaning in medicine & pharmacology, sometimes another in law. Cannabis may be legally a "narcotic" in some jurisdictions. Since narcotic redirects here, shouldn't we say something about that?

What about apomorphine? My understanding is it is neither analgesic nor addictive, but it does have some therapeutic uses. William Burroughs claimed it was the only treatment for morphine/heroin addiction that actually worked. He claimed to have tried all the others except electro-shock. That article was originally in Lancet, was included as an appendix in the edition of "Naked Lunch" I had.