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.

Women often prescribed excessive opioids after childbirth, research reveals

Excessive opioid prescriptions following childbirth may lead to higher rates of addiction within communities, according to a new report in The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association.

12 Aug 2020

Updated clinical practice guidelines for managing mucositis published

Updated clinical practice guidelines for managing mucositis, a very common and often debilitating complication of cancer therapy, was recently published in the journal Cancer.

11 Aug 2020

Opioid risk is higher for patients transitioning to skilled nursing facilities

Hospital patients discharged to skilled nursing facilities often bring a high-dose painkiller prescription with them, suggesting more attention should be paid to opioid safety for those patients, research from the Oregon State University College of Pharmacy shows.

11 Aug 2020

First-time opioid prescriptions may lead to substance-related problems later in life

Young adults and adolescents who are prescribed opioids for the first time may be at a slightly greater risk of developing a substance-related problem later in life, according to a new study co-authored by Indiana University researchers.

11 Aug 2020

Opioid initiation risk in young adults, adolescents may not be as high as previously thought

10 Aug 2020

Maternal cannabis use in pregnancy linked to increased risk of autism in children

In the largest study of its kind, Ottawa researchers found that children whose mothers reported using cannabis during pregnancy were at greater risk of autism.

10 Aug 2020

Researchers identify new treatment for osteoarthritis

The study results revolve around the long-established idea that machines within animal and human cells turn the sugars, fats, and proteins we eat into energy used by the body's millions of cells.

10 Aug 2020

FDA approves opioid agonist for management of moderate to severe acute pain in adults

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Olinvyk (oliceridine), an opioid agonist for the management of moderate to severe acute pain in adults, where the pain is severe enough to require an intravenous opioid and for whom alternative treatments are inadequate.

9 Aug 2020

New protocol reduces opioid use following surgery

The majority of patients who followed an "Enhanced Recovery After Surgery" (ERAS) protocol did not need opioids for pain management at multiple time points following elective spinal and peripheral nerve surgery.

6 Aug 2020

Study: UnityPhilly app can help fight America's opioid crisis

Equipped with naloxone and a smartphone app, community members can save lives in the fight against America's opioid crisis, according to a paper from researchers at Drexel University's Dornsife School of Public Health and colleagues published this week in The Lancet journal EClinicalMedicine.

6 Aug 2020

NICE guideline advises GPs to stop prescribing opioids for chronic pain

Published today, the first ever NICE guideline on the treatment of chronic pain has said that GPs should not prescribe opioids and other medicines like paracetamol to patients because they could be ‘harmful’ and cause addiction.

5 Aug 2020

University of Warwick pain management expert wins 2020 Hero of Hope Award

An expert in pain management from the University of Warwick has been recognized for her commitment and research in supporting patients with chronic pain diseases with an international award.

4 Aug 2020

Smartphone alert can aid laypersons in opioid overdose reversal

Without timely reversal, opioid overdose causes respiratory depression that may deteriorate into apnea, leading to brain injury and even death.

3 Aug 2020

Increased access to MOUD in prisons and jails is associated with lower overdose rate

The epidemic of opioid-related overdose death persists across the United States, and people released from jails and prisons are at particular risk.

23 Jul 2020

Behavior therapy that exposes people to traumatic memories does not trigger drug relapse

About a quarter of people with drug or alcohol use disorders also suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which is typically caused by a traumatic or stressful life event such as rape or combat, and which leaves the person with intense anxiety.

20 Jul 2020

Cannabis could be a potentially effective treatment for sickle cell disease pain

Cannabis appears to be a safe and potentially effective treatment for the chronic pain that afflicts people with sickle cell disease, according to a new clinical trial co-led by University of California, Irvine researcher Kalpna Gupta and Dr. Donald Abrams of UC San Francisco. The findings appear in JAMA Network Open.

17 Jul 2020

New opioid medication may slow the progression of osteoarthritis

A novel preclinical study by Keck Medicine of USC researchers, published in Arthritis & Rheumatology, reveals that a potential new opioid medication may have the ability to slow the progression of osteoarthritis while being less addictive than commonly prescribed opioid drugs.

13 Jul 2020

UHN leads first-of-its-kind real world evidence study of medical cannabis

Medical cannabis is finally being put under the microscope, in a first-of-its-kind real world evidence study led by Dr. Hance Clarke, Director of Pain Services, Toronto General Hospital, and a recognized leader in educating Canadians about chronic pain management and the risk factors of continued opioid use.

9 Jul 2020

BU researchers develop new method to better understand cell communication

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine have developed and implemented a new way to better understand how human cells communicate with each other, how this communication is disrupted in human diseases and how this can be corrected pharmacologically.

6 Jul 2020

Researchers discover novel class of safer analgesics

Researchers at LSU Health New Orleans Neuroscience Center of Excellence and colleagues have discovered a new class of pipeline drugs to relieve pain and reduce fever without the danger of addiction or damage to the liver or kidneys.

6 Jul 2020

Opioids News and Research

Further Reading

Women often prescribed excessive opioids after childbirth, research reveals

Updated clinical practice guidelines for managing mucositis published

Opioid risk is higher for patients transitioning to skilled nursing facilities

First-time opioid prescriptions may lead to substance-related problems later in life

Opioid initiation risk in young adults, adolescents may not be as high as previously thought

Maternal cannabis use in pregnancy linked to increased risk of autism in children

Researchers identify new treatment for osteoarthritis

FDA approves opioid agonist for management of moderate to severe acute pain in adults

New protocol reduces opioid use following surgery

Study: UnityPhilly app can help fight America's opioid crisis

NICE guideline advises GPs to stop prescribing opioids for chronic pain

University of Warwick pain management expert wins 2020 Hero of Hope Award

Smartphone alert can aid laypersons in opioid overdose reversal

Increased access to MOUD in prisons and jails is associated with lower overdose rate

Behavior therapy that exposes people to traumatic memories does not trigger drug relapse

Cannabis could be a potentially effective treatment for sickle cell disease pain

New opioid medication may slow the progression of osteoarthritis

UHN leads first-of-its-kind real world evidence study of medical cannabis

BU researchers develop new method to better understand cell communication

Researchers discover novel class of safer analgesics

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