Laudanum Laudanum Laudanum is a tincture of opium containing approximately 10% powdered opium by weight (the equivalent of 1% morphine). Reddish-brown and extremely bitter, laudanum contains almost all of the 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. Today, laudanum is recognized as addictive and is strictly regulated and controlled as such throughout most of the world. The United States Uniform Controlled
Desensitization (medicine) Desensitization (medicine) In medicine, desensitization is a method to reduce or eliminate an organism's negative reaction to a substance or stimulus. In pharmacology, "drug desensitization" is equivalent to drug tolerance, though the latter term refers to the more general concept of subjects' reactions (positive or negative) to a drug reducing following its repeated use. For example, if a person with diabetes mellitus has a bad allergic reaction to taking a full dose of beef insulin, the person is given a very small amount of the insulin at first, so small that the person has no adverse reaction or very limited