Kahlo's Addictions
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Introduction of Artist and DrugFrida Kahlo, a world renowned Mexican artist, is best know for her colorful Mexican attire, ribbon-braided hair, bold unapologetic facial hair, and most importantly, her contribution to Surrealist Art. Her self-portraits began in 1926 during recovery after tragedy. At the age of 17,a bus Khalo was riding was hit by a train, and a metal handrail entered through her pelvic region and exited near her thoracic cavity.
She had eleven fractures in her right leg, a crushed foot, a broken pelvis, and her spinal column broke in three places. Her injuries (miraculously) healed, but she suffered from lingering health issues throughout her life. Despite the repercussions of her accident, Khalo attempted to lead a normal life. Kahlo’s marriage to Diego Rivera seems to be the focus of Kahlo’s biographies and diary entries. Their constant affairs and Frida’s inability to bear children due to her accident fueled Kahlo’s personal pain, which is reflected in many of her art pieces. Through the course of her life, Frida Kahlo was known to have become addicted to painkillers and alcohol. Many researchers may contribute these addictions to her ongoing medical issues with chronic pain. Recurring romantic affairs and problems with mental illness may have contributed to her depression and drug use, as well. History of PethedineFrida Kahlo used pain-killers to help manage her chronic pain. Many circumstances lead to her abuse of these, which included morphine and pethidine. Both of these substances are opiates derived from the poppy seed, which has already been presented in an earlier page. Pethidine was first “synthesized in 1939, with anticholinergic, noradrenergic, and serotonergic effects” (Pestean). Its uses include general, obstetric, and urologic anesthesia and are also used for chronic non-malignant pain. It is not known how Kahlo administered this medication, but it is currently not recommended to treat acute pain or to be taken orally. Rather, it is recommendated to be injected IM, subquetaously, or epidurally (Medscape). The most important form of metabolizing Pethidine is via N-demethylation by hepatic cytochrome P450 to meperidine. Meperidine, a metabolite, has been shown to have less analgesic effect than pethidine but “has two to three times the potency of a central nervous system excitatory agent”that may cause hallucinogenic and convulsive effects (Pestean).
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Adverse Effect of PethedineChronic epidural administration of pethidine has been shown to alter and lesion spinal cords in rabbits (Pestean). Current pain management dosages for adults are 50-150 mg IM/SC/PO as needed, not to exceed 600mg/24 hr (Medscape). The lethal dose for pethidine is 1 gram/day or 3-4grams/ day in pethidine-dependent patients.
Common adverse effects of pethidine include: Agitation Coma Dysphoria Euphoria Mental clouding or depression Physical and psychological dependence Severe cardiac arrhythmias Visual disturbances Effects of CreativityDuring the active years of her life, which included visits to Europe and the United States, Frida was able to express and exhibit her work in many solo art shows. During these travels, her then bareable pain (whether physical or emotional) were visually noted in many of her paintings. One example, Henry Ford Hospital, depicts a miscarriage she had while in Detroit. It features a saddened, bloody Frida attached to a fetus and reproductive organs.
Kahlo’s mental health, already in jeopardy, further fueled her obsession with seeking extreme surgeries to fix her spine, caused her to seek greater quanities of pethidine and alcohol. During this time, Frida’s “reputation as an artist began to soar” but her body began to fail (FridaKahloFans). The effects of mixed alcohol, pethidine, and morphine caused the artist severe kidney infections, anemia, and alcoholism. Despite these diagnoses, Kahlo continued to paint but her art had shifted to still-life painting due to being bedridden. Kahlo was presented with an opportunity for a solo exhibition in Mexico which became a huge success for Kahlo and the Galeria de Arte Contemporaneo when Kahlo arrived via ambulance to the opening and becoming part of the exhibition. Unfortunately, Frida Kahlos health did not improve, and after many orthopedic surgeries and unhealthy consumption of pain killers and alcohol, the painter’s bedridden status contributed to acquiring pneumonia and pulmonary embolisms, ending her life at the age of 47. Although the effects of alcohol and pain killers contributed to Frida Kahlos depression and mental illness, these substances also influenced how she dealt with pain and suffering. The feelings of rejection, infertility, infidelity, and “DISINTEGRATION” are interpreted in a number of her most famous painting that put Kahlo on the Surrealist platform and now makes her an icon (Kahlo). References Antelo, Fernando. "Pain and the Paintbrush: The Life and Art of Frida Kahlo." VM. AMA Journal of Ethics Illuminating the Art of Medicine, 01 May 2013. Web. 16 Apr. 2016. "Dolsin Injection - Bbpharma.sk." Dolsin Injection - Bbpharma.sk. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2016. "Frida Kahlo Fans Complete Biography." Frida Kahlo, Biography, Bio, Diego Rivera. N.p., 01 Jan. 2008. Web. 18 Apr. 2016. "Meperidine (Rx)Brand and Other Names:Demerol, Pethidine." Demerol, Pethidine (meperidine) Dosing, Indications, Interactions, Adverse Effects, and More. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2016. McCullough, Marie. "FRIDA'S PAIN The Painter Transformed Her Suffering into Art. What Caused Her Agony - and What Does It Say about Medicine Then, and Today?" Philly-archives. N.p., 17 Mar. 2008. Web. 15 Apr. 2016. Pestean, C., M. Taulescu, C. Ober, C. Catoi, V. Miclaus, L. Oana, and C. Bodolea. "The Effect of Chronic Toxicity of Pethidine on the Spinal Cord: An Experimental Model in Rabbits." National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 12 Aug. 2013. Web. 18 Apr. 2016. |
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