Opioids News and Research

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An opioid is a chemical that works by binding to opioid receptors, which are found principally in the central nervous system and the gastrointestinal tract. The receptors in these two organ systems mediate both the beneficial effects and the side effects of opioids.

Study finds significant increase in opioid-associated cardiac arrests

A nationwide US study has shown that the rate of opioid-related cardiac arrests has steeply risen and is now on par with the rate of cardiac arrest from other causes. The research is presented at ESC Congress 2021.

23 Aug 2021

Researchers use residues in wastewater to study illicit drug consumption

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, stay-at-home orders and other restrictions drastically affected how people lived and worked, resulting in social isolation and economic instability. Now, researchers show that some people turned to a variety of drugs for relief. Using wastewater analysis, the team identified a spike in consumption of easily abused prescription opioids and anti-anxiety sedatives, while some illicit drug use plummeted, between March and June 2020.

23 Aug 2021

People cannot perceive decrease in body temperature when exercising, study finds

In a study published this month in Physiology & Behavior, research teams at the University of Tsukuba, led by Takeshi Nishiyasu, and at Niigata University of Health and Welfare, led by Tomomi Fujimoto, have found that, when exercising, people cannot perceive decreases in their core body temperature caused by the cold as well as they can when they are resting. This research has implications for recreational activities in colder climates, such as hiking and skiing.

20 Aug 2021

Children and young adults are frequently exposed to unsafe opioid prescriptions, study suggests

Children and young adults who have pain from surgery, dental care and other conditions are often prescribed opioids.

19 Aug 2021

New AHA Presidential Advisory addresses opioid use and its effects on heart and brain health

The misuse of opioids in the United States continues to lead to high rates of dependency as well as a staggering number of deaths due to overdose.

19 Aug 2021

The newest disease detection tool for covid and beyond: Poop

Since reopening campus at the University of California-San Diego last summer, university officials have relied on the tried-and-true public health strategies of testing and contact tracing. But they have also added a new tool to their arsenal: excrement.

16 Aug 2021

Study finds altered brain gene expression patterns in people with opioid use disorder

The epidemic of opioid abuse affects millions of people worldwide, but researchers know surprisingly little about the molecular changes caused by opioids in the human brain.

10 Aug 2021

Vitamin D supplementation could reduce opioid doses in palliative cancer treatment

Patients with vitamin D deficiency who received vitamin D supplements had a reduced need for pain relief and lower levels of fatigue in palliative cancer treatment, a randomized and placebo-controlled study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows.

5 Aug 2021

Contingency management at end-of-treatment helps to overcome opioid use disorder

The opioid epidemic remains a U.S. public health crisis and has only worsened since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, with opioid deaths accounting for 69,000 of 93,000 overdose-related deaths in 2020, according to provisional drug overdose data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in July 2021.

5 Aug 2021

Study shows increased risk of overdose and mental health crisis following opioid dose tapering

Opioid therapy is complex. In recent years, a rise in opioid-related deaths and changing prescribing guidelines and regulatory policies have led many physicians to reduce daily doses for patients prescribed stable opioid therapy for chronic pain.

3 Aug 2021

‘Social prescribing’ may help lonely older adults to avoid harmful sedatives and painkillers

Lonely, older adults are nearly twice as likely to use opioids to ease pain and two-and-a-half times more likely to use sedatives and anti-anxiety medications, putting themselves at risk for drug dependency, impaired attention, falls and other accidents, and further cognitive impairment, according to a study by researchers at UC San Francisco.

26 Jul 2021

As holdout Missouri joins nation in monitoring opioid prescriptions, experts worry

Kathi Arbini said she felt elated when Missouri finally caught up to the other 49 states and approved a statewide prescription drug monitoring program this June in an attempt to curb opioid addiction.

26 Jul 2021

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Delta changes the covid conversation

The resurgence of covid cases in the U.S. — largely attributable to the much more contagious delta variant — has given policymakers the jitters.

22 Jul 2021

Taking "z-drugs" with opioids increases risk of death

A new study by Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers of more the 400,000 Medicare patients taking medications for insomnia found that the risk of death is increased when either benzodiazepines or "z-drugs" are taken with opioids.

16 Jul 2021

Novel two-component intervention may help prevent unintended pregnancy among women using opioids

Increases in maternal opioid use have led to an almost doubling in the number of babies born with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) in the U.S. in the past 10 years.

16 Jul 2021

How ERs fail patients with addiction: One patient’s tragic death

Jameson Rybak tried to quit using opioids nearly a dozen times within five years. Each time, he'd wait out the vomiting, sweating and chills from withdrawal in his bedroom.

15 Jul 2021

Research finds Cannabis terpenes as a promising new target for pain therapies

When it comes to the medicinal and therapeutic properties of Cannabis sativa, an unsolved mystery is whether there exists an "entourage effect," whereby the pain-relieving effects of the plant as a whole are greater than any of its individual parts.

14 Jul 2021

Study highlights burden of methamphetamine-associated heart failure hospitalizations in California

Heart failure hospitalizations and costs related to methamphetamine use jumped sharply over a decade in California, according to new research published today in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, an American Heart Association journal.

14 Jul 2021

Canadians with a history of drug dependence more likely to have mental illness, finds study

New research published online in the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction found that Canadians with a history of drug dependence are much less likely to have flourishing mental health and are more likely to have mental illness.

14 Jul 2021

Study: Opioid prescribing preferences, practices among surgical residents and faculty differ

Opioid prescribing preferences and practices among surgical residents and faculty differ, according to a new study published in the journal Surgery.

8 Jul 2021

Opioids News and Research

Further Reading

Study finds significant increase in opioid-associated cardiac arrests

Researchers use residues in wastewater to study illicit drug consumption

People cannot perceive decrease in body temperature when exercising, study finds

Children and young adults are frequently exposed to unsafe opioid prescriptions, study suggests

New AHA Presidential Advisory addresses opioid use and its effects on heart and brain health

The newest disease detection tool for covid and beyond: Poop

Study finds altered brain gene expression patterns in people with opioid use disorder

Vitamin D supplementation could reduce opioid doses in palliative cancer treatment

Contingency management at end-of-treatment helps to overcome opioid use disorder

Study shows increased risk of overdose and mental health crisis following opioid dose tapering

‘Social prescribing’ may help lonely older adults to avoid harmful sedatives and painkillers

As holdout Missouri joins nation in monitoring opioid prescriptions, experts worry

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Delta changes the covid conversation

Taking "z-drugs" with opioids increases risk of death

Novel two-component intervention may help prevent unintended pregnancy among women using opioids

How ERs fail patients with addiction: One patient’s tragic death

Research finds Cannabis terpenes as a promising new target for pain therapies

Study highlights burden of methamphetamine-associated heart failure hospitalizations in California

Canadians with a history of drug dependence more likely to have mental illness, finds study

Study: Opioid prescribing preferences, practices among surgical residents and faculty differ

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