Not to be confused with labdanum or Cistus ladanifer.
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Laudanum
Combination of
Opium
Analgesic
Ethanol
Tincture
Clinical data
Pronunciation
/ˈlɔːdənəm/LAW-dən-əm
Trade names
Dropizol
Routes of administration
Oral, buccal, sublingual
ATC code
A07DA02 (WHO)
Legal status
Legal status
UK: Class A
US: Schedule II
UN: Narcotic Schedule I
(verify)
Laudanum is a tincture of opium containing approximately 10% powdered opium by weight (the equivalent of 1% morphine).[1] Laudanum is prepared by dissolving extracts from the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) in alcohol (ethanol).
Reddish-brown in color and extremely bitter, laudanum contains several opium alkaloids, including morphine and codeine. Laudanum was historically used to treat a variety of conditions, but its principal use was as a pain medication and cough suppressant. Until the early 20th century, laudanum was sold without a prescription and was a constituent of many patent medicines. Laudanum has since been recognized as addictive and is strictly regulated and controlled as such throughout most of the world. The United States Controlled Substances Act, for example, lists it on Schedule II, the second strictest category.
Laudanum is known as a "whole opium" preparation since it historically contained all the alkaloids found in the opium poppy, which are extracted from the dried latex of ripe seed pods (Papaver somniferum L., succus siccus). However, the modern drug is often processed to remove all or most of the noscapine (also called narcotine) present as this is a strong emetic and does not add appreciably to the analgesic or antipropulsive properties of opium; the resulting solution is called Denarcotized Tincture of Opium or Deodorized Tincture of Opium (DTO).
Laudanum remains available by prescription in the United States (under the generic name "opium tincture") and in the European Union and United Kingdom (under the trade name Dropizol), although the drug's therapeutic indication is generally limited to controlling diarrhea when other medications have failed.
The terms laudanum and tincture of opium are generally interchangeable, but in contemporary medical practice, the latter is used almost exclusively.
^The Pharmacopoeia of the United States of America (10th Decennial Revision ed.). Philadelphia, USA: J. B. Lippincott Company. 1925. p. 400. Also labeled Tr. Opii, Tinctura Opii Deodorati, Tincture of Deodorized Opium, Opii tinctura. Tincture of Opium, U.S.P, "yields, from each 100 cc, not less than 0.95 gm and not more than 1.05 gm of anhydrous morphine". Source:
Laudanum is a tincture of opium containing approximately 10% powdered opium by weight (the equivalent of 1% morphine). Laudanum is prepared by dissolving...
with Laudanum, because their chemical names are similar: Camphorated Tincture of Opium (Paregoric) vs. Tincture of Opium (Laudanum). However, Laudanum contains...
powers. By the time of his accession, he was obese and possibly addicted to laudanum. George IV's relationship with his wife Caroline had deteriorated by the...
Blaylock took a lethal dose of laudanum and alcohol. Her death was ruled as "suicide by opium poisoning". She had been using laudanum and alcohol to excess for...
submit to any procedure that might cure his appetite and was treated with laudanum, tobacco pills, wine-vinegar, and soft-boiled eggs. The procedures failed...
he called laudanum, that was superior to all others, particularly when death was to be cheated. ("Ich hab' ein Arcanum – heiss' ich Laudanum, ist über...
somniferum for inducing sleep and relieving pain. The use of Paracelsus' laudanum was introduced to Western medicine in 1527, when Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus...
antibiotic to treat any associated bacterial infection.[citation needed] Laudanum (Deodorized Tincture of Opium)] may be used for severe pain and to combat...
Sickly and melancholic during the last decade of her life, Siddal died of a laudanum overdose in 1862 during her second year of marriage to Rossetti. Elizabeth...
Murnau, Albin and Fritz drug her with Murnau's laudanum, and film as Schreck feeds on Greta, with the laudanum in her blood putting Schreck to sleep. At dawn...
These dental problems left him in constant pain, which he treated with laudanum. Washington was a talented equestrian, with Thomas Jefferson describing...
Died in prison Known as "The Postcard Killer"; poisoned a coworker with laudanum in Massachusetts and strangled 2 young boys to death in New York. Died...
including his children. One day, he forgot to properly store away the laudanum meant to treat her before leaving for two weeks, returning to find Dolores...
and other childhood illnesses. He was treated for these conditions with laudanum, which fostered a lifelong opium addiction. Although experiencing a turbulent...
increasingly troublesome to her family, and she experimented with sedatives like laudanum and had a special governess to control her. Lady Morgan reported in her...
Passiflora rubra, the Dutchman's laudanum, is a species in the family Passifloraceae. It is native throughout the West Indies, and to Colombia, Venezuela...
Chicago indie Kranky in late 2002. The title translates as "With Laudanum", laudanum being an opiate. The first three tracks are three sections of one...
indicating its derivation and degree of similarity to morphine (by way of laudanum). Hydromorphone is known in various countries around the world by the brand...
a prescription for milder diarrhea), diphenoxylate, paregoric, or even laudanum are more frequently used to treat severe diarrhea. Codeine is marketed...
1522, Paracelsus made reference to an opium-based elixir that he called laudanum from the Latin word laudāre, meaning "to praise". He described it as a...
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