nalorphine

9.9

A medicine that stops the effects of an overdose of strong pain medicines like morphine

noun
/nəˈlɔrˌfin/

Archaic

: nalorfina

The doctor administered nalorphine to reverse the effects of the morphine overdose.

Examples

In cases of overdose, nalorphine can be life-saving.
As an early narcotic antagonist, nalorphine was widely studied before more modern alternatives were developed.
Researchers evaluated the safety profile of nalorphine in treating opioid poisonings.
The doctor administered nalorphine to reverse the overdose.
The doctor administered nalorphine to reverse the effects of the morphine overdose.
Researchers evaluated the safety profile of nalorphine in treating opioid poisonings.
As an early narcotic antagonist, nalorphine was widely studied before more modern alternatives were developed.

Synonyms

Narcan

vsnalorphine

Specialized

9 4.2

A medicine used to quickly reverse an overdose from drugs like heroin

is the nonbranded name for a separate reversal compound

naloxone

vsnalorphine

Specialized

4 6.7

A drug that quickly stops the effects of an overdose from drugs like heroin or morphine

performs a similar reversal but refers to a different compound

narcotic antagonist

vsnalorphine

Specialized

6.1

A drug that stops the effects of strong pain medicines and helps breathing

names a single drug rather than the whole drug class

Nalline

vsnalorphine

Specialized

9.8

A medicine that stops the effects of strong pain drugs like morphine in overdoses

is the nontrademarked name for a different antagonist drug

levallorphan

vsnalorphine

Specialized

9.9

A drug that stops breathing problems from an overdose of a strong pain medicine while keeping pain relief

focuses on reversal generally without the specific pain sparing feature

Surface Forms

nalorphine singular

nalorphines plural

Morphology

nalorphine = morphine (semi-transparent) = N-allyl + morphine

Form shows it is built from 'morphine' with a chemical N-allyl substitution, but the pharmacological meaning (antagonist rather than typical morphine agonist) is specialized and not directly inferable by average learners.

Etymology

Nalorphine comes from the familiar drug morphine and a chemical prefix nal- that marks it as a changed form. A helpful way to remember it is that this change makes it work 'against' morphine, so nalorphine is used to reverse morphine's effects.