UC San Diego School of Medicine researchers report that opioid users who participated in a 12-step abstinence program and recently stopped using drugs refused to take home naloxone, even if having it on hand might save lives.
A Penn Medicine new study of how text messaging could inform opioid prescribing practices showed that 60 percent of opioids are left over after orthopaedic and urologic procedures
Each year in the U.S., about 30 million hospitalizations occur in individuals 18 and older. Of these, more than 7 million are current cigarette smokers whose average hospital stay is several days. Researchers say that starting smoking cessation therapy during hospitalization and maintaining high adherence post-discharge can markedly improve permanent quit rates in these patients with minimal to no side effects. Cessation therapy also should include long-term counseling and at least 90 days of a prescription drug, specifically, varenicline.
The Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts (FORE) and the Addiction Policy Forum (APF) are launching a program to assist people with substance use disorder obtain COVID-19 vaccinations.
The Arkansas Society of Anesthesiologists (ARSA) and the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) today applaud bill sponsor Sen. Cecile Bledsoe and the Arkansas Senate Public Health, Labor and Welfare Committee for helping to ensure the safety of patients prescribed opioids. Arkansas State Drug Director Kirk Lane and Jonathan Goree, M.D., a physician anesthesiologist and pain medicine specialist, testified for the bill.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Johns Hopkins Medicine Media Relations is focused on disseminating current, accurate and useful information to the public via the media. As part of that effort, we are distributing our “COVID-19 Tip Sheet: Story Ideas from Johns Hopkins” every other Wednesday.
Researchers at Penn Medicine used machine learning-aided analysis to uncover top positive and negative themes in patient Yelp reviews of substance use treatment facilities
The coronavirus pandemic has led to several temporary regulatory relaxations and policy innovations in treatment for opioid use disorder aimed at making it easier for those seeking care to access treatment without risking in-person interactions. The Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts (FORE) today announced it is providing grants totaling $1.3 million to six organizations to assess the impact of these temporary measures and inform future policies to improve access and promote equity for the treatment of opioid use disorder.
Risky drinking often co-occurs with maladaptive eating in young adults, according to a study reported in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. While previous research had suggested a link between heavy alcohol use and obesity-related factors in college students, the latest study aimed to identify specific profiles of problematic drinking, food addiction, and obesity within a more diverse sample of community-dwelling young people. The researchers also explored shared theoretical risk factors for heavy drinking and overeating, and how these differ across the profiles. Calorie-dense food and alcohol both require little effort to obtain and consume, and each generates immediate and potent experiences of reward in the brain. According to ‘reinforcer pathology’ theory, people who place a high value (‘demand’) on unhealthy items, and who also favor small immediate rewards (such as food and alcohol) over larger delayed rewards (such as health), are at highest risk for overconsumption
A new study published Tuesday 10 March, No Smoking Day, from King's College London highlights the 'clear benefit' of using e-cigarettes daily in order to quit smoking, and supports their effectiveness when compared to other methods of quitting, including nicotine replacement therapy or medication.
A new study shows that providing a non-acute care space after hospital discharge for patients with COVID-19 who are experiencing homelessness helped reduce hospitalizations and keep inpatient beds available for those requiring acute care.
The first-wave COVID-19 lockdown in Barcelona, Spain, has been linked to increased drinking among people recovering from alcohol use disorder (AUD), as reported in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. Pandemic-associated stress has already been associated with increased drinking in the general population, but few studies have examined the impact among people with a clinical diagnosis of AUD, who may be particularly susceptible to using alcohol as a coping mechanism. Additionally, almost all COVID-19 studies to date have been based on self-reported alcohol use, which does not always provide an accurate measure, particularly among heavy drinkers and those with AUD. In the latest study, researchers used the results of urine alcohol tests to assess changes in alcohol consumption among people with AUD before and after the first-wave lockdown. Although the lockdown in Spain was one of the strictest in the world, with residents allowed to leave homes for basic needs only, alcohol r
Dr. Carlos Pato and Dr. Michele Pato to Oversee Behavioral Health, Addictions and Genomic Psychiatry Research at Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences
Although the prevalence of opioid use among Black people is comparatively low, the rate of opioid deaths has increased the sharpest and fastest among that population in recent years, according to an article in the March/April issue of Harvard Review of Psychiatry. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.
One of the nation’s largest research projects aimed at measuring the outcomes of medication-assisted recovery (MAR) housing for opioid-use disorder will launch this spring, led by harm reduction specialists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) in partnership with the Health and Human Services Commission’s Texas Targeted Opioid Response Program (TTOR).
A new review article published in the March issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (JAAOS) examines the variability that exists in opioid prescribing patterns across the United States for many common orthopaedic procedures. While the Northeast and Midwest were most impacted by the opioid epidemic, the study found that patients in the West and South consistently were given prescriptions at or greater than the national medians. These regional and national variations in opioid prescribing practices can serve as a benchmark for orthopaedic surgeons to help develop guidelines to reduce excess postoperative opioid prescriptions.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Johns Hopkins Medicine Media Relations is focused on disseminating current, accurate and useful information to the public via the media. As part of that effort, we are distributing our “COVID-19 Tip Sheet: Story Ideas from Johns Hopkins” every other Wednesday.
The drug buprenorphine is an effective treatment for opioid use disorder, but many who misuse opioids also take benzodiazepines — drugs that treat anxiety and similar conditions. Many treatment centers hesitate to treat patients addicted to opioids who also take benzodiazepines. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis studied overdose risk in people taking buprenorphine and found that the drug lowered risk, even in people taking benzodiazepines.
In March and April 2020, mental health claim lines for individuals aged 13-18, as a percentage of all medical claim lines, approximately doubled over the same months in the previous year.
In a study at Penn researchers found that Pennsylvania’s financial incentive policy encouraged hospitals to enact rapid changes to support treatment for opioid use disorder for patients visiting the ED, and evaluates the efficacy of the Opioid Hospital Quality Improvement Program.
WEST BLOOMFIELD, MI (February 23, 2021)—Henry Ford Maplegrove Center is pleased to announce that it has been designated as a Cigna Center of Excellence for Substance Use. The designation recognizes top performing addiction recovery centers that provide patients with quality care, an exceptional experience and cost efficiency.
DALLAS – Feb. 22, 2021 – Three decades-old antibiotics administered together can block a type of pain triggered by nerve damage in an animal model, UT Southwestern researchers report. The finding, published online today in PNAS, could offer an alternative to opioid-based painkillers, addictive prescription medications that are responsible for an epidemic of abuse in the U.S.
According to some estimates, chronic pain affects up to 40% of Americans, and treating it frustrates both clinicians and patients––a frustration that's often compounded by a hesitation to prescribe opioids for pain.
People treated with chronic opioid therapy for pain are more likely to live in socially disadvantaged areas and self-report worse anxiety, depression and pain that interferes in their lives, according to a new study presented this week at the Association of Academic Physiatrists Annual Meeting.
Irvine, Calif., Feb. 1, 2021 — Researchers from the University of California, Irvine and the University of Minnesota have found that an enriched diet and companionship can reduce pain in mice with sickle cell disease by increasing serotonin. They also discovered that duloxetine, an antidepressant that boosts serotonin levels, could be an alternative to opioids in treating chronic pain.
Western Carolina University researchers find a disproportionate number of inmates with violent offenses suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, panic disorder and alcohol use disorder, and published their findings in the Journal of Criminal Psychology.
People who take opioid medications for chronic pain may have a hard time finding a new primary care clinic that will take them on as a patient if they need one, according to a new “secret shopper” study of hundreds of clinics across the country.
A coalition of 31 professional and advocacy organizations has released a set of principles aimed at guiding state and local spending of the forthcoming opioid litigation settlement funds.
Patients with substance use disorders (SUDs) being treated for serious medical conditions are more likely to leave the hospital against medical advice (AMA) than those without addiction. A special type of contract with healthcare providers might enable patients to consent in advance to life-saving medical care – even if they later refuse treatment, according to a commentary in the Journal of Addiction Medicine, the official journal of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM). The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.
New research into opioid overdoses that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted new disparities along racial lines that are likely fueled by existing inequality
DALLAS – Jan. 13, 2021 – A new treatment that combines two existing medications may provide long-sought relief for many battling debilitating methamphetamine use disorder, according to a study to be published tomorrow in The New England Journal of Medicine.
The Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts (FORE) today announced the establishment of its Scientific Advisory Council to provide program-related guidance to assist the Foundation in addressing the nation’s opioid crisis.
Conditions are ripe for transforming the U.S. mental health care system, with scientific advances, the growth of Medicaid and political consensus on the importance of improving mental health creating the possibility that goals once thought out of reach may be possible, according to a new RAND Corporation study.
More than half of people who use medical marijuana products to ease pain also experience clusters of multiple withdrawal symptoms when they’re between uses, a new study finds. And about 10% of the patients taking part in the study experienced worsening changes to their sleep, mood, mental state, energy and appetite over the next two years as they continued to use cannabis.
Researchers have known that emotions play a critical, but complex role in shaping dependency on smoking and vaping. Now, a team of researchers report that emotions that trigger dependency for people who both smoke and vape may be different from people who just smoke, a finding that may one day help scientists create more personalized programs to help people quit tobacco smoking and vaping.
A new study out of the University of Chicago Medicine following young adult drinkers for 10 years has found that individuals who reported the highest sensitivity to alcohol’s pleasurable and rewarding effects at the start of the trial were more likely to develop an alcohol use disorder (AUD) over the course of the study.
Strengthening the Heartland, an SDSU Extension program that provides free seminars to increase awareness and knowledge about opioids among youth and adults in rural South Dakota, will be expanding its programming.
New research suggests that cannabis use by people in care for opioid addiction might improve their treatment outcomes and reduce their risk of being exposed to fentanyl in the contaminated unregulated drug supply.
A new report from researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health offers recommendations aimed at federal, state, and local policymakers to address the opioid epidemic during the pandemic.