Heroin News and Research

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Heroin is a very addictive chemical called diacetylmorphine. Heroin is a modified form of morphine, a highly abundant opium derived from the seedpods of the poppy plant.

Link between binge eating and addiction-like behaviors

A history of binge eating -- consuming large amounts of food in a short period of time -- may make an individual more likely to show other addiction-like behaviors, including substance abuse, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers. In the short term, this finding may shed light on the factors that promote substance abuse, addiction, and relapse. In the long term, may help clinicians treat individuals suffering from this devastating disease.

25 Apr 2012

Opiate addiction disorders associated with opioid-induced hyperalgesia

Patients with addictive disorders who take methadone or other opioid medications for pain will experience heightened sensitivity to pain, known as hyperalgesia, and new research published in The Journal of Pain shows that the condition does not improve over the course of treatment.

23 Apr 2012

First specific antidote for cocaine toxicity

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have shown that an injectable solution can protect mice from an otherwise lethal overdose of cocaine. The findings could lead to human clinical trials of a treatment designed to reverse the effects of cocaine in case of emergency. Cocaine is involved in more than 400,000 emergency-room visits and about 5,000 overdose deaths each year in the United States.

19 Apr 2012

Voluntary testing, counseling for HIV decreases unprotected sex acts among cocaine, heroin users

Voluntary testing and counseling (VT/C) for HIV or sexually transmitted infections (STI) among cocaine and heroin users who were treated in the emergency department (ED), accompanied by referral to drug treatment, was associated with reduction in unprotected sex acts and fewer sex acts while high according to researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC).

18 Apr 2012

Addiction to opioids has higher risk of death than alcohol or other drugs

People with an opioid addiction had the highest risk of death when compared with rates for alcohol and other drugs, according to a new study by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).

18 Apr 2012

Viewpoints: 'Slicing' the safety net; GOP health law fight should have targeted cost-cutting panel, not mandate

Last month, the House passed a 2013 budget written by Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin that would reduce spending in the category of Education, Training, Employment and Social Services by $16 billion from the previous year, or 22 percent, on top of all the cuts forced by Republicans over several years.

11 Apr 2012

Synthetic marijuana use among teenagers raises concerns

According to reports three U.S. teenagers ended up in the emergency department with altered mental states and seriously elevated heart rates after smoking synthetic marijuana.

20 Mar 2012

Diacetylmorphine more cost-effective than MMT in treating street heroin users

Medically prescribed heroin is more cost-effective than methadone for treating long-term street heroin users, according to a new study by researchers at Providence Health Care and the University of British Columbia.

13 Mar 2012

Leading AIDS experts issue new HIV guidelines

Leading AIDS experts at Johns Hopkins and other institutions around the world have issued new guidelines to promote entry into and retention in HIV care, as well as adherence to HIV treatment, drawn from the results of 325 studies conducted with tens of thousands of people infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

6 Mar 2012

HIV among injection drug users declines

U.S. health officials say the rate has dropped by half since the 1990s. The decline may be related to a growth in needle exchange programs. For the report more than 10,000 drug users in 20 metropolitan areas were surveyed and tested for HIV in 2009. About 1 in 10 tested positive for the virus. In the '90s, roughly 1 in 5 did. Addicts who inject heroin, cocaine or other drugs have been one of the groups hit hardest by AIDS.

2 Mar 2012

Report identifies patterns in misuse of illicit and prescription drugs among young adults

A new report from researchers at the Drexel University School of Public Health identifies patterns in the misuse of illicit drugs among young adults who also misuse prescription drugs.

28 Feb 2012

JAM study highlights emerging problem in addiction therapy

A Journal of Addiction Medicine (JAM) study was cited in a recent Center for Substance Abuse Research (CESAR) series highlighting an emerging problem in addiction therapy: the diversion and misuse of the medication buprenorphine.

28 Feb 2012

Drug 'addicted' newborn the latest hysteria driven absurdity

The Florida Society of Pain Management Providers (www.Flspmp.org) feels it is vital to set the factual record straight in light of the mass deception used to foment a hysteria driven war on pain medications that now is threatening the health and welfare of Florida's chronic pain patients.

21 Feb 2012

Censorship of public health websites by Russian drug agency an 'assault' on HIV prevention

"Amidst pro-democracy protests, the Russian authorities have taken what is an ongoing assault on HIV prevention to the next level by moving to silence public health advocates whose only infraction has been to spread lifesaving information online and to criticize the government for its own failures," Eka Iakobishvili, a human rights analyst at Harm Reduction International, and Claudia Stoicescu, an analyst on Harm Reduction International's public health research team, write in this Huffington Post opinion piece.

13 Feb 2012

New editorial offers clarity on confusing drug and alcohol addiction terminology

A new editorial released this week offers clarity and structure on confusing drug and alcohol addiction terminology for prescribers, users and regulators. "Through a glass darkly: can we improve clarity about mechanism and aims of medications in drug and alcohol treatments?" is published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, the official journal of the British Association for Psychopharmacology, published by SAGE.

4 Feb 2012

Magic Mushroom’s compound may help in some mental disorders: Study

There has been little research on the mechanism of action of “magic mushrooms” on the brain. A growing number of studies suggested that perhaps the mushrooms' key ingredient could work magic for certain mental disorders. New research in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences sheds light on why one of the mushrooms' hallucinogenic chemical compounds, psilocybin, may hold promise for the treatment of depression.

24 Jan 2012

Now cannabis mouth spray to help ‘pot’ addicts quit

To help smokers quit there are nicotine patches and heroin users have methadone. However till date cannabis users have little choice except stop abruptly to quit. Cannabis withdrawal symptoms include severe insomnia, pot cravings and mood swings. “Although these are not life-threatening, they are significant enough to cause marked distress and lead people to go back to using the drug,” said lead researcher Jan Copeland.

10 Jan 2012

FDA notes shortage of ADHD medicines

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) drugs to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are in such short supply that hundreds of patients complain daily to the agency that they are unable to find a pharmacy with enough pills to fill their prescriptions.

2 Jan 2012

Powerful painkiller on its way to the market: Experts worry about addiction woes

Drug makers are on their way to a pure, more powerful version of the nation’s second most-abused medicine, which has addiction experts worried that it could spur a new wave of abuse. The new pills contain the highly addictive painkiller hydrocodone, packing up to 10 times the amount of the drug as existing medications such as Vicodin.

28 Dec 2011