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UrduScientists are developing ways to detect and identify not only new, previously unseen forms of fentanyl but also newer and more dangerous synthetic opioids known as nitazenes.
Tag: Opioids
A 37% drop in overdose deaths from drugs mixed with opioids – fentanyl included
Expanded treatment options, increased naloxone distribution and targeted education campaigns likely led to a 37% reduction in overdose deaths from opioids combined with stimulant drugs other than cocaine, according to the results of a large federally funded study.
Black patients less likely to receive multimodal pain management options after surgery
While recovering from major surgery, Black patients may be less likely to receive certain multimodal analgesia options and more likely to receive oral opioids than white patients, according to research being presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY® 2024 annual meeting.
Rothman Orthopaedic Institute Foundation to Host Symposium on Xylazine Crisis in Pennsylvania
The Rothman Orthopaedic Institute Foundation for Opioid Research & Education announces a symposium titled “The Next Chapter of the Opioid Epidemic in Pennsylvania: The Xylazine Crisis” to be held on November 23, 2024, from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm at the Bluemle Life Science Building at Jefferson Med in Philadelphia.
Machine learning predicts which patients will continue taking opioids after hand surgery
A machine learning algorithm performs well in predicting the risk of persistent opioid use after hand surgery, reports a study in the August issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.
Digging into Death to Save the Living
Kabrena Rodda, manager of the Analytical Chemistry and Instrumentation Group at PNNL, received the distinction of ACS Fellow.
Novel study reveals that a surprising number of pregnant people are using cannabis — and need to be informed of its risks
Breaking research shows that rates of cannabis use during pregnancy are far higher than previously thought, a finding that could improve efforts to identify pregnant cannabis users and inform them of potential risks.
Diseño de opioides más seguros
En un estudio publicado en ACS Central Science, los investigadores han identificado una estrategia para diseñar opioides más seguros. Han demostrado que un opioide experimental, que se une a un sitio no convencional del receptor, suprime el dolor en modelos animales con menos efectos secundarios, especialmente los vinculados a sobredosis fatales.
Brain neurotransmitter receptor antagonist found to prevent opioid addiction in mice
New research led by UCLA Health has found a drug that treats insomnia works to prevent the addictive effects of the morphine opioids in mice while still providing effective pain relief.
Experimental drug supercharges medicine that reverses opioid overdose
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, with collaborators at the University of Florida and Stanford University, identified a compound that, in mice, makes naloxone much more effective at counteracting a drug overdose.
Chilling discovery: Cold-sensing protein may pave the way for safer pain relief
Research published in Science Advances traced the history of human’s ability to feel cold back to the molecular underpinnings of the cold and menthol sensor TRPM8 over hundreds of millions of years. The findings could lead to non-addictive pain medications, a crucial development given the opioid crisis.
Medical Cannabis Certification Patterns for Chronic Pain
In light of the national opioid crisis, a recent study by researchers at the Rothman Orthopaedic Institute and its Department of Medical Cannabis explores the use of medical cannabis (MC) as a potential alternative for chronic pain management.
Good news, bad news on dental pain care seen in new study
Americans who have a tooth pulled or another painful dental procedure in the U.S. today are far less likely to get opioid painkillers than they were just a few years ago, a new study shows. But the COVID-19 pandemic seems to have thrown a wrench into the effort to reduce opioid use in dental care.
Opioid limits didn’t change surgery patients’ experience, study shows
Worries that surgery patients would have a tougher recovery if their doctors had to abide by a five-day limit on opioid pain medication prescriptions didn’t play out as expected, a new study finds.
Instead, patient-reported pain levels and satisfaction didn’t change at all for Michigan adults who had their appendix or gallbladder removed, a hernia repaired, a hysterectomy or other common operations after the state’s largest insurer put the limit in place, the study shows.
Overdose deaths from fentanyl laced stimulants have risen 50-fold since 2010
New UCLA-led research has found that the proportion of US overdose deaths involving both fentanyl and stimulants has increased more than 50-fold since 2010, from 0.6% (235 deaths) in 2010 to 32.3% (34,429 deaths) in 2021. This rise in constitutes the ‘fourth wave’ in the US’s long-running opioid overdose crisis
U.S. Drug Overdose Deaths More Than Quadrupled from 1999 to 2020
Regardless of race, age, geography or urbanization, drug overdose deaths in the U.S. more than quadrupled from 1999 to 2020, causing 1,013,852 deaths. The rates increased 4.4 times from 6.9 per 100,000 in 1999 to 30 per 100,000 in 2020.
NUTRITION 2023 Press Materials Available Now
Press materials are now available for NUTRITION 2023, the annual flagship meeting of the American Society for Nutrition (ASN).
Easier Access to Opioid Painkillers May Reduce Opioid-Related Deaths
Treatment medications are too stigmatized, costly and racially prescribed to stem the surge in overdoses, Rutgers researchers find.
Opioid Exposure in the Womb Could Raise the Risk of Heart Disease Later in Life
A new study sheds light on an understudied aspect of today’s opioid crisis: What happens to the cardiovascular health of babies exposed to opioids in the womb.
E-health reduces patient pain, opioids in clinical study
An online “e-health” program helped more people with chronic pain reduce their opioid medications and pain intensity than a control group that had only regular treatment in a recent clinical study.
How to Get Narcan: The Lifesaving Drug for Opioid Overdose
Ochsner Health Doctor of Pharmacy discusses Narcan use and availability.
FDA’s approval of over-the-counter naloxone will save lives
The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) urges the public to help fight the opioid epidemic by learning to recognize and respond to an overdose. This includes understanding how to use naloxone, a life-saving medication approved today for sale over the counter by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Marijuana-derived compounds could reverse opioid overdoses
Naloxone can reverse potentially fatal overdoses, but it’s less effective against powerful fentanyl. To develop alternatives, researchers are looking to a component of marijuana, CBD. They will present their results at ACS Spring 2023.
How one state beat national surgery opioid trends
A statewide effort to treat the pain of surgery patients without increasing their risk of long-term dependence on opioids has paid off in Michigan, a study shows.
Multiple substance use disorders may share inherited genetic signature
New research led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis identifies a common genetic signature that may increase a person’s risk of developing substance use disorders. The work eventually could lead to universal therapies to treat multiple substance use disorders and potentially help people diagnosed with more than one.
Inmates With Opioid Addiction Report Peer Navigators Are Crucial for Successful Community Reentry
Recently incarcerated people with opioid use disorder have trust in working with peer support specialists who recovered from addiction and faced similar life experiences, according to a Rutgers study.
CHOP Researchers Find Rate of Fatal Opioid Poisonings Among Children More Than Doubled Over 13-Year Span
Researchers found opioids were responsible for more than half of all fatal poisonings in children ages 5 and younger, more than double the proportion of fatal poisonings caused by opioids in 2005. Additionally, over-the-counter drugs still contribute to fatal poisonings in this age group despite increased regulation. The findings, published today in the journal Pediatrics, underscore the need for improved intervention to prevent further fatal poisonings.
Anesthesiologists, including one who lost both sons to opioid overdose, crusade for over-the-counter naloxone access
Physician anesthesiologist Bonnie Milas, M.D., experienced firsthand the power of naloxone – a drug that reverses opioid overdose – having used it to save her son when she found him unresponsive on the kitchen floor. With drug overdose deaths hitting…
New Jersey Regulation Not Associated With Curbed Opioid Prescriptions or Shortened Usage
Rutgers research shows that it is difficult to dictate physician behavior, but that may be a good thing.
Researchers Endorse Widespread Naloxone Over the Counter to Prevent Drug Overdose Deaths
Naloxone is an opioid receptor antagonist that rapidly reverses or blocks the effects of opioids, restores normal respiration and heart rhythm, and reverses the potentially fatal effects of an overdose. Although naloxone is included in U.S. CDC recommendations, the drug is currently prescribed to less than 1 in 70 patients prescribed high-dose opioid prescriptions. Researchers propose a call to action for all health providers and state medical societies to ensure the widest distribution and easy availability of naloxone, including over the counter, which is likely to be FDA-approved very soon.
Ignoring Native American data perpetuates misleading white ‘deaths of despair’ narrative
An increase in “deaths of despair” in recent decades has been frequently portrayed as a phenomenon affecting white communities, but a new analysis in The Lancet shows the toll has been greater on Native Americans.
Overdose deaths involving buprenorphine did not proportionally increase with new flexibilities in prescribing
The proportion of opioid overdose deaths involving buprenorphine, a medication used to treat opioid use disorder, did not increase in the months after prescribing flexibilities were put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study.
Scientists Publish New Findings in Quest to Build a Better Opioid
This basic scientific research provides a comprehensive structural framework that should help drug developers rationally design safer drugs to relieve severe pain.
Study suggests one solution to America’s opioid epidemic: Tell doctors their patients fatally overdosed
There are no simple solutions to America’s deadly overdose epidemic, which costs 100,000 lives each year and is erasing gains in life expectancy.
Nearly 1/3 of people with chronic pain turn to cannabis
According to a new study published in JAMA Network Open, almost a third of patients with chronic pain reported using cannabis to manage it.
UCLA Health Tip Sheet: Masks prevent more than COVID; Obesity and stroke; Opioids frequently prescribed in cirrhosis
A brief roundup of news and story ideas from the experts at UCLA Health.
Wastewater samples show the dramatic effects of tough love on codeine addicts as consumption plunges
Wastewater sampling has shown the significant impact of removing the strong painkiller codeine from pharmacy counters to a prescription-only medication since 2018 in Australia. The move has led to a 37 per cent drop in codeine use, cutting dependency and potentially saving lives.
Cleveland Clinic Studying Stem Cell Treatment for Complex Regional Pain Syndrome
Cleveland Clinic was awarded $5.5 million from the National Institutes of Health to develop a stem cell treatment for complex regional pain syndrome, a disease that causes debilitating chronic pain.
The research shows long-term potential for providing patients suffering from chronic pain an alternative to addictive treatments like opioids.
Henry Ford Health Researchers Look at Steroids as Pain Control Alternative to Opioids
Henry Ford Health Orthopedic researchers looked at steroids as part of a multi-modal pain control regimen and an alternative to using opioids after outpatient knee replacement. The study won the 2022 American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons Clinical Research Award.
COVID lockdown did not lead to a rush on opioid prescriptions
While some feared that New Yorkers would re-fill prescriptions to stockpile opioid medications in the early weeks of the COVID-19 lockdown much in the way people hoarded toilet paper, in fact, New York State opioid prescriptions declined in the period around the March 20, 2020 “PAUSE” order, according to new research.
Novel Approach for Educating Prison Populations About Medication for Opioid Use Disorder
An educational campaign by Rutgers and the NJ Department of Corrections is first in nation to use direct-access video to reduce disparities in education about opioid treatment
Poll: Aching joints make older adults reach for many forms of pain relief – but health risks could follow
Popping a pill may bring short-term relief for arthritis-related joint pain, but many older adults may not realize that what they swallow could raise their risk of other health problems, or that other non-drug options could help them, a new poll suggests.
Pain is no joke in labour, but withholding laughing gas has no ill effects
Women giving birth during the COVID-19 pandemic have been denied nitrous oxide (laughing gas) for pain relief due to fears of virus transmission from the aerosol-generating procedure.
UCLA researchers use artificial intelligence tools to speed critical information on drug overdose deaths
Fast data processing of overdose deaths, which have increased in recent years, is crucial to developing a rapid public health response. But the system now in place lacks precision and takes months. To correct that, UCLA researchers have developed an automated process that reduces data collection to a few weeks.
Children and teens getting spinal surgery don’t need so many opioids, study suggests
Children and teens with scoliosis undergoing spinal fusion can be prescribed fewer opioids while still receiving adequate pain control after surgery, a new study finds. Patients receiving preoperative education on the risks of opioids and the importance of nonopioid pain management options consumed fewer opioids after surgery.
Researchers determine the complex structure of the receptors related to the addictive effects of opioids
A study published in the journal Pharmacological Research reveals the oligomeric molecular structure of the MOR-Gal1R complex, a component present in the brain which is involved in the analgesic and addictive effects of certain opioids.
Nonopioid pain prescriptions increased after 2016 CDC guideline, study finds
After the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a guideline for prescribing opioids to patients experiencing chronic pain in 2016, the prescribing rate of non-opioid pain medication increased each year above and beyond what would be expected based on the preexisting trends, a new study finds. Researchers say the findings suggest more clinicians are carefully considering the risks of prescribing opioids.
New Documents Show McKinsey’s Role in Opioid Epidemic
The UCSF-JHU Opioid Industry Documents Archive released more than 114,000 documents related to McKinsey & Company’s work showing how they advised opioid makers to help increase sales, despite the growing public outcry over the opioid epidemic.
Opioids: 4 ways to reduce harm, overdose and death
As America sees a record number of overdose deaths, taking action to reduce harm and tragedy due to opioids is vital. Here, three providers with expertise in substance use disorder care share ways individuals, communities and health care providers can help save lives.
Experts stress importance of monitoring for post-treatment opioid use in young sarcoma patients
New analysis finds more than half of U.S. adolescents and young adults with sarcoma—a type of cancer in the bones or soft tissues—are often prescribed opioids to treat their pain.