When was the first painkiller invented

In the rough frontier of early America, opiates helped ease the pain brought on by such ailments as smallpox, cholera and dysentery.

By the American Revolution, opium was a common medical tool. Thomas Jefferson, though generally skeptical of the medical treatments of his day, turned to laudanum in his later years to help ease his chronic diarrhea — an affliction that probably helped kill him. He ultimately grew his own poppies on his Monticello estate.

By the middle of the 19th century, recreational opiate use was becoming more common. By then, opiates were the main ingredient in everything from teething powders to analgesics for menstrual cramps. Some served a useful purpose, but they also became easy methods to get high. Highly addictive opiates, derived from the opium poppy, have been used for thousands of years for both recreational and medicinal purposes.

Photo credit: AP Wideworld. Morphine, the most active substance in opium, is a very powerful painkiller that hooked many US Civil War soldiers. A bottle of codeine tablets—all opiates temporarily relieve pain but are highly addictive. How much do you really know about painkillers? Contact Us. Start Free E-Courses. Take the Quiz. Download Booklets. Law Enforcement. Sign the Drug-Free Pledge. Start an Online Class. Join a Team. Order Bulk Materials. The oldest is pethidine also known as meperidine, Demerol and about 40 other names.

It was synthesised in by the German chemist Otto Eisleb. It is less potent than morphine, but is still widely used for the relief of post-operative pain. By replacing one of the -OH groups with a methoxy group, morphine is converted into codeine , another powerful painkiller. When mixed with paracetamol it goes by the trade name Tylenol.

The most notorious derivative of morphine is heroin. It is synthesised by acetylation of the two hydroxyl groups of morphine with acetyl chloride, hence its other names, diacetylmorphine or diamorphine. Heroin was first isolated from morphine in and was originally used as a 'safe' i. This was later found to be incorrect and in the s heroin abuse and addiction became common.

Heroin was first restricted in the UK in due to 'unprofitable diversion of workers' and an international ban followed after the first world war. It is now classified as a Class A drug and possession or trading in it results in heavy penalties in most countries.

Replacing the hydrogen-bonding -OH groups with -OCOCH 3 makes heroin much less soluble in water than morphine, but more soluble in non-polar solvents, like oils and fats. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Arabic traders brought opium to the Far East. From there, opium made its way to Europe, where it was used as a curative for a wide variety of illnesses and psychological problems.

Morphine soon became the mainstay of U. Morphine was commonly used as a painkiller during the Civil War. In , the hypodermic needle was invented, after which morphine began to be used in minor surgical procedures to treat neuralgia; this gave rise to the medicalization of opioids. Heroin was synthesized as a derivative of morphine in , and the German chemical company Bayer offered heroin as a cough suppressant. By the end of the 19th Century, the United States focused on ending the non-medicinal use of opium.