Feature Channels: Drugs and Drug Abuse

Filters close
Released: 29-Jan-2020 1:35 PM EST
American Society of Anesthesiologists Launches New Podcasts
American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA)

The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) today announced the launch of two new monthly podcasts for physician anesthesiologists, the anesthesia care team, residents, medical students and anesthesiology community.

Released: 29-Jan-2020 8:30 AM EST
Study Reveals New Way to Treat Stroke Using an Already FDA-Approved Drug
Florida Atlantic University

Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (GCSF) is currently used to treat neutropenia due to chemotherapy and has been successfully used for patients who require bone marrow transplants. The study is the first to report on the neuroprotective effect of GCSF in vivo and showed that it improved neurological deficits that occur in the first few days following cerebral ischemia. GCSF improved long-term behavioral outcomes while also stimulating a neural progenitor recovery response in a mouse model.

Released: 28-Jan-2020 12:10 PM EST
Research offers promise for treating schizophrenia
University of Georgia

Research by a University of Georgia psychologist shows that targeting one particular symptom of schizophrenia has a positive effect on other symptoms.

Released: 27-Jan-2020 2:15 PM EST
South Dakotans Deserve a Physician to Administer Anesthesia
American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA)

The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) and the South Dakota Society of Anesthesiologists (SDSA) strongly oppose SB 50, which will needlessly dismantle the anesthesia care team model in South Dakota by authorizing nurse anesthetists to administer anesthesia without physician supervision. Additionally, the bill will authorize nurse anesthetists to prescribe patients potentially dangerous controlled substances, including opioids, and perform intricate pain medicine procedures all with no physician oversight or involvement.

Released: 27-Jan-2020 12:35 PM EST
Tiny containers transport targeted treatments
National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering

Promising intracellular protein-based therapeutics have been of limited use due to the difficulty of delivery into diseased cells. Now bioengineers have developed nanoparticles that can deliver these therapeutics to their targets—avoiding degradation and toxic interactions with healthy tissues.

   
Released: 27-Jan-2020 12:30 PM EST
Study shows orthostatic hypotension not associated with higher risk of adverse events among patients undergoing more intensive blood pressure treatment
Beth Israel Lahey Health

Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) have found that orthostatic hypotension was not associated with higher risk of cardiovascular events, falls, or fainting among participants in The Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial. In a study published in the journal Hypertension, the scientists showed that hypertension treatment had no impact on the link between OH and cardiovascular outcomes or other adverse events.

Released: 27-Jan-2020 12:30 PM EST
Blood pressure drug linked to lower risk of gout
Beth Israel Lahey Health

A new study led by physician-researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) reports that the antihypertensive drug amlodipine lowered long-term gout risk compared to two other drugs commonly prescribed to lower blood pressure. The findings are published in the Journal of Hypertension.

Released: 27-Jan-2020 7:30 AM EST
New drug that could aid earlier MS diagnoses approved by FDA for first human clinical trials
Case Western Reserve University

A new drug that could make it easier for doctors to diagnose multiple sclerosis (MS) in its earlier stages has been approved for its first human trials by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Released: 24-Jan-2020 2:25 PM EST
UCI researchers identify a connection between early life adversity and opioid addiction
University of California, Irvine

Individuals with a history of early life adversity (ELA) are disproportionately prone to opioid addiction. A new UCI-led study reveals why. Published in Molecular Psychiatry, the study titled, “On the early life origins of vulnerability to opioid addiction,” examines how early adversities interact with factors such as increased access to opioids to directly influence brain development and function, causing a higher potential for opioid addiction.

Released: 24-Jan-2020 1:05 PM EST
Opioid Dependence Found to Permanently Change Brains of Rats
UC San Diego Health

Approximately one-quarter of patients who are prescribed opioids for chronic pain misuse them, with five to 10 percent developing an opioid use disorder or addiction. In a new study, UC San Diego researchers found that opioid dependence produced permanent changes in the brains of rats.

Released: 24-Jan-2020 12:45 PM EST
Advanced Practice Registered Nurses to Have a Greater Role in National Response to Opioid Epidemic
Wolters Kluwer Health: Lippincott

As we enter a new year and a new decade, many states have enacted legislation affecting the roles of advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) in terms of practice authority, reimbursement, and prescriptive authority, according to the 32nd Annual Legislative Update in the January issue of The Nurse Practitioner, published by Wolters Kluwer.

   
Released: 23-Jan-2020 11:05 AM EST
For Low Back Pain in Older Adults, Treatment Doesn’t Match Guidelines
Wolters Kluwer Health: Lippincott

Many Medicare patients with new episodes of low back pain receive care inconsistent with current guidelines – including high use of opioids and advanced imaging tests, reports a study in the February issue of Medical Care. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.

Released: 22-Jan-2020 8:00 AM EST
Program reduces narcotic prescriptions after surgery with over-the-counter pain medicine
Houston Methodist

Surgeons at Houston Methodist Hospital are stemming the tide of addiction to prescription opioids by managing patients’ pain after surgery. By using long-acting local anesthetics at the site of surgery and scheduled non-narcotic pain medicine, they decreased opioid prescriptions from 87% to 10% after surgery.

Released: 21-Jan-2020 8:00 AM EST
Press registration now open for 2020 Experimental Biology meeting
Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB)

Complimentary press passes and virtual newsroom access are now available for the Experimental Biology (EB) 2020 meeting, to be held April 4–7 in San Diego.

Released: 16-Jan-2020 11:00 AM EST
Most Youths Surviving Opioid Overdose Not Getting Timely Treatment to Avoid Recurrence
Johns Hopkins Medicine

A study of more than 4 million Medicaid claims records during a recent seven-year period concludes that less than a third of the nearly 3,800 U.S. adolescents and young adults who experienced a nonfatal opioid overdose got timely (within 30 days) follow-up addiction treatment to curb or prevent future misuse and reduce the risk of a second overdose.

Released: 15-Jan-2020 3:45 PM EST
National survey seeks musicians' input on mental health and substance misuse challenges
Tulane University

The goal of the survey is to collect data that will help experts develop interventions to support musicians.

   
Released: 14-Jan-2020 9:50 AM EST
Epidemic levels of chronic pain, opioid use disorder add to challenges of managing patients in pain
American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN)

A series of seven articles in AACN Advanced Critical Care focuses on the challenges of safe, effective pain management in the ICU, including more Americans reporting daily chronic pain and the rapidly increasing prevalence of opioid misuse and opioid use disorder.

7-Jan-2020 4:55 PM EST
Medicaid Expansion Associated with Fewer Total Opioid Overdose Deaths Across the U.S.
NYU Langone Health

The expansion of Medicaid coverage for low-income adults permitted by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was associated with a six percent reduction in total opioid overdose deaths nationally, according to new research from NYU Grossman School of Medicine and University of California, Davis.

Released: 9-Jan-2020 5:05 PM EST
New $3 Million Study to Look at Influences on Using Opioid Medications in Criminal Justice Setting
University of Kentucky

With $3 million in funding from NIDA and NIGMS, UK College of Arts & Sciences Professor Carrie Oser is leading a new study focusing on factors that influence a person’s decision to use one of the three FDA-approved medications for the treatment of opioid use disorder in the criminal justice setting.

   
Released: 9-Jan-2020 3:50 PM EST
Overdose rates are higher, but opioid addiction care is harder to find, in Medicaid work requirement states, study finds
Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan

Low-income people with addiction, especially those with addiction to opioids, may find it hard to access the kind of care they need to recover no matter where they live, a new study suggests. But treatment for opioid problems is especially scarce in states that may drop people from their Medicaid health insurance rolls -- unless they can show that they’re working, in school, have a disability or are medically frail or receiving treatment for substance use disorder.

Released: 9-Jan-2020 1:45 PM EST
Harnessing Biology and Technology to Develop New Depression Treatments – Update from Harvard Review of Psychiatry
Wolters Kluwer Health: Lippincott

New research into the biology of depression, along with new and evolving technologies, provides the basis for developing the next generation of treatments for major depressive disorder (MDD), according to the special January/February issue of Harvard Review of Psychiatry. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.

Released: 8-Jan-2020 4:20 PM EST
Shifting Clinic Culture to Address the Opioid Epidemic
Tufts University

At a family medicine clinic in the Boston area, a team led by faculty from Tufts University School of Medicine conducted a five-year case study where they found medical facilities can help physicians to treat chronic pain in a way that will deter opioid misuse, while creating better processes to identify and treat patients who develop an opioid use disorder.

Released: 8-Jan-2020 3:45 PM EST
This drug could save their lives, but less than 2% of them get it
Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan

Only a tiny minority of people at risk for an opioid overdose actually are prescribed a drug that could save their lives, a new study suggests. And the odds of having a dose of the rescue drug were very low among some of the most at-risk groups, including those who had already survived a previous opioid overdose.

Released: 7-Jan-2020 10:50 AM EST
Research shows nasal spray antidote is easiest to give for opioid overdose
Binghamton University, State University of New York

Of three possible ways for people to deliver the life-saving antidote naloxone to a person experiencing an opioid overdose, the use of a nasal spray was the quickest and easiest according to research conducted by William Eggleston, clinical assistant professor at Binghamton University, State University of New York, and colleagues at SUNY Upstate Medical University.

Released: 7-Jan-2020 8:30 AM EST
Analysis of FDA Documents Reveals Inadequate Monitoring of Key Program to Promote Safe Opioid Use
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

A risk-management program set up in 2012 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to curb improper prescribing of extended-release and long-acting opioids may not have been effective because of shortcomings in the program’s design and execution, according to a paper from researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

27-Dec-2019 9:30 AM EST
When Automotive Assembly Plants Close, Deaths from Opioid Overdoses Rise
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Closing of local automotive assembly plants may lead to increases in deaths from opioid overdose, according to a study led by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts General Hospital. The findings highlight fading economic opportunity as a driving factor in the ongoing national opioid epidemic, and build on previous research that links declining participation in the labor force to increased opioid use in the U.S. The findings are published today in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Released: 23-Dec-2019 12:05 AM EST
Parents: Turkey makes great leftovers—opioids do not
University of Michigan

Leftover prescription opioids pose big risks to kids, yet most parents keep their own and their child's unused painkillers even after they're no longer medically necessary for pain.

Released: 19-Dec-2019 11:05 AM EST
Opioid Self-management Practices and Potential Safety Risks Among Patients with Cancer
University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing

Despite a national opioid crisis, prescribed opioid analgesics remain a viable option for pain management for patients with cancer. In effect, patients with cancer represent one of the few groups excluded from most state legislation and policy initiatives on prescribing opioids as well as from opioid stewardship programs of many health systems. However, little is understood about oncology patients’ opioid self-management practices and potential safety risk that may stem from these practices.

Released: 16-Dec-2019 5:05 PM EST
Teen Overdoses From Anxiety Drug Rising
Rutgers University-New Brunswick

The number of teens taking and overdosing from benzodiazepines, commonly prescribed anxiety medications, has risen dramatically over the past decade, according to a national study coauthored by Rutgers researchers.

12-Dec-2019 2:30 PM EST
Opioid Overdose Risk Factors for Teens, College-Aged Youth Same as Adults
Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan

Older teens may have similar risk factors for prescription opioid overdose as adults, a new study suggests.

Released: 12-Dec-2019 12:05 PM EST
Prize Winners Announced in $1.55M Challenge for New Solutions to Detect Opioids in International Mail
Homeland Security's Science And Technology Directorate

DHS S&T, the White House ONDCP, U.S. CBP, and the USPIS announced the grand prize winner and runner-up in the Opioid Detection Challenge, a $1.55 million global prize competition for rapid, nonintrusive detection tools that will help find illicit opioids in international mail.

   
Released: 10-Dec-2019 9:00 AM EST
FAU and Georgia State Partner to Assist Children and Families Affected by Addiction
Florida Atlantic University

FAU and GSU have partnered on a program to assist children and families affected by addiction. They have received a $2.64 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for a program aimed at improving outcomes of Georgia’s children and families and strengthening the partnership between the Division of Family and Children Services and family treatment courts.

Released: 9-Dec-2019 2:35 PM EST
Researchers receive nearly $5 million to curb opioid cravings
Penn State College of Medicine

Two researchers from Penn State College of Medicine have received nearly $5 million from the National Institutes of Health to study whether an already-approved drug can be used to reduce cravings and prevent relapse in those struggling with opioid addiction.

Released: 9-Dec-2019 11:15 AM EST
Regional Trends in Overdose Deaths Reveal Multiple Opioid Epidemics, According to New Study
Iowa State University

A recently published study shows the United States in the grip of several simultaneously occurring opioid epidemics, rather than just a single crisis. The epidemics came to light after the researchers analyzed county-level data on drug overdose deaths. The study highlights the importance of different policy responses to the epidemics rather than a single set of policies.

   
5-Dec-2019 12:00 PM EST
A Person’s Perception of Risk Can Tell Us About Their Chances of Opioid Relapse
Rutgers University-New Brunswick

People in treatment for opioid addiction are more likely to relapse when they become more tolerant of risks, according to a study by Rutgers and other institutions. The findings can help clinicians better predict which patients are most vulnerable.

3-Dec-2019 12:05 PM EST
Computer Game May Help to Predict Reuse of Opioids
NYU Langone Health

A computer betting game can help predict the likelihood that someone recovering from opioid addiction will reuse the pain-relieving drugs, a new study shows.

Released: 6-Dec-2019 7:00 PM EST
Co-addiction of meth and opioids hinders treatment
University of Washington School of Medicine

A study published in the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment of 799 patients in three locations found that methamphetamine use was associated with more than twice the risk for dropping out of treatment for opioid-use disorder.

Released: 5-Dec-2019 3:05 PM EST
Nearly one-third of participants drop out of psychosocial substance use disorder treatments
University of Alabama at Birmingham

People who abuse cigarettes, alcohol and/or heroin are less likely to drop out of a substance use disorder treatment than those who are addicted to cocaine, according to a new study led by a researcher at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The study found that approximately 30 percent of participants in psychosocial substance use disorder treatments do not finish the programs. This is the first time a study of this kind has been published.

Released: 5-Dec-2019 11:35 AM EST
Chronic disease prevention could ease opioid crisis
University of Georgia

Preventing chronic disease could help curb the opioid epidemic, according to research from the University of Georgia. The study is the first to examine the relationship between hospitalizations due to opioid misuse and chronic disease.

Released: 3-Dec-2019 1:35 PM EST
Harvard Medical School Launches Project to Transform the Treatment of Pain
Harvard Medical School

DARPA-funded project called STOP PAIN aimed at the design of safer, more effective pain treatments Research to focus on understanding the biology of pain as a way to transform clinical care, help stem the public health crisis fueled by opioids Efforts will encompass expertise from fields including neurobiology, stem cell biology, artificial intelligence and computational and medicinal chemistry

Released: 2-Dec-2019 7:05 PM EST
Researchers Find Clue to Preventing Addiction Relapse
University of Washington School of Medicine

A study published in Neuropsychopharmacology reported that addiction relapse can be prevented by controlling cells in a brain region called the nucleus accumbens.

Released: 2-Dec-2019 5:05 PM EST
Winning Opioid Detection Technologies to be Announced, Demonstrated
Homeland Security's Science And Technology Directorate

DHS S&T in partnership with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the White House ONDCP, and USPIS will announce the winning technologies in the Opioid Detection Challenge at 11:00 a.m., Thursday, December 12, 2019 at the DHS TSL in Egg Harbor Township, NJ.

Released: 2-Dec-2019 2:15 PM EST
Program to address opioid prescribing for lung, head and neck cancer patients
University of Illinois Chicago

The University of Illinois at Chicago has received a grant from the Coleman Foundation to develop a screening process for prescribing opioids and managing opioid use disorders in cancer patients who receive care at UI Health, UIC’s clinical health enterprise.

Released: 25-Nov-2019 11:05 AM EST
Cannabis reduces headache and migraine pain by nearly half
Washington State University

Inhaled cannabis reduces self-reported headache severity by 47.3% and migraine severity by 49.6%, according to a recent study led by Carrie Cuttler, a Washington State University assistant professor of psychology.

Released: 22-Nov-2019 10:05 AM EST
Neighborhood matters for fentanyl-involved overdose deaths
Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health

Fentanyl overdoses cluster geographically more than non-fentanyl overdoses, according to a study just released by Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

19-Nov-2019 2:05 PM EST
Online Reviews Reveal Need for Specialized Drug Treatment Facility Assessments
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

With no national standard to measure drug treatment facilities, new research reveals opportunities to learn from patients to help create metrics.

Released: 20-Nov-2019 12:10 PM EST
A new link between migraines, opioid overuse may be key to treating pain
University of Illinois Chicago

Researchers have discovered that a peptide links together migraine pain and pain induced by opioid overuse.



close
2.1411