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new compound, which had been renamed Methadone or Dolophin.
While it could be demonstrated that methadone did have impressive
analgesic properties, it's pharmacologic profile did not distinguish it
from other competitors sufficiently to make it a clinical or commercial
success.

It was, however, used in the research carried out in the U.S. Public
Health's addiction treatment hospitals in which it was not particularly
distinguished. The story might have ended there if it had not been for
Dr. Vincent Dole and colleagues.

How Does Methadone Work?

The history of pharmacology is one of trial and error. Our ancestors
used remedies that were passed on from generation to generation,
usually herbs or roots that had proven to have therapeutic value over
the years. Those that produced illness or death were considered to be
the special plants of the gods who were angered when tried by mortals.
Only in the last century have we learned that compounds which have
the ability to produce significant changes in our bodies, do so, in many
cases, because they attach themselves to chemical structures on the
cells of our organs, called receptors.

Thus, the first mystery of why a plant like the foxglove can have
dramatic benefit on the heart of person in congestive heart failure is
solved. The flowers of the plant contain a chemical known as
digitalis, which attaches to receptors on the cells of the heart muscle
and makes the muscle fibers more efficient. Another mystery awaits;
why would the heart muscle of homo sapiens have receptor for a
substance found in a plant. We'll get to that later.

When the compound, the medicine, attaches to the receptor, on the
surface of the cell, it causes the cell to go through biochemical
changes. It may cause a cell in the adrenal gland to secrete adrenalin
or adrenal steroids. It may cause the thyroid to produce more or less
thyroid hormone.