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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.

Future wave of opioid-involved overdose deaths will spike in rural and urban areas

Over the past 21 years of opioid overdose deaths-;from prescription drugs to heroin to synthetic and semisynthetic opioids such as fentanyl-;geography has played a role in where opioid-involved overdose deaths have occurred, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study.

28 Jul 2022

Study uncovers a new, specific target for developing treatments for cocaine addiction

Researchers have found that blocking certain acetylcholine receptors in the lateral habenula (LHb), an area of the brain that balances reward and aversion, made it harder to resist seeking cocaine in a rat model of impulsive behavior.

28 Jun 2022

Data-driven simulation model projects three key strategies that could save many lives from opioid crisis

A significant challenge in addressing the country's opioid crisis is that policies based on past patterns of behavior may have unintended consequences because those patterns change over time.

24 Jun 2022

Sobering lessons in untying the knot of a homeless crisis

Michelle Farris never expected to become homeless, but here she was, sifting through garbage and towering piles of debris accumulated along a roadway on the outskirts of Northeast Portland.

21 Jun 2022

As Biden fights overdoses, harm reduction groups face local opposition

Casey Malish had just pulled into an intersection in the 2nd Ward when a woman with tattoos and pinkish hair unexpectedly hopped into the back seat of his gray Mazda. He handles outreach for the Houston Harm Reduction Alliance, a nonprofit that helps drug users like her stay alive.

14 Jun 2022

Aromatherapy can help control pain and reduce opioid consumption, preliminary study suggests

Aromatherapy reduces post-surgical opioid use by half in hip replacement patients anxious before their operation, according to a new preliminary study being presented at the annual meeting of the European Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care (ESAIC) in Milan, Italy (4-6 June).

2 Jun 2022

MGH scientists develop a data-driven simulation model to address the rampant opioid crisis

A data-driven simulation model designed to help policymakers to better understand and address the nation's rampant opioid crisis has been developed by a team of scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital.

31 May 2022

The new MADD movement: Parents rise up against drug deaths

Life as he knew it ended for Matt Capelouto two days before Christmas in 2019, when he found his 20-year-old daughter, Alexandra, dead in her childhood bedroom in Temecula, California. Rage overtook grief when authorities ruled her death an accident.

23 May 2022

Quality of drug supply declined in Vancouver during the COVID-19 pandemic, study finds

More than a third of people who use drugs in Vancouver, Canada reported a decline in the quality of drugs during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

11 May 2022

Lifesaving drug for opioid use disorder underutilized

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Saint Louis University found that less than half of Americans who received treatment for opioid use disorder over a five-year period were offered a potentially lifesaving medication.

10 May 2022

Study shows how a non-opioid approach successfully manages women's pain after C-section

For years, women recovering from cesarean section (C-section) deliveries have been given devices that let them, with a button, control the flow of opioid painkillers into their IV line. But as researchers and policymakers push to curb the use of opioids, clinicians are developing new strategies for treating pain after C-sections.

3 May 2022

UK experts share their work in the field of opioid use disorder research at 2022 Rx Summit

University of Kentucky experts on the front lines of the nation's opioid and addiction crises will share their work in the field of opioid use disorder research, treatment and prevention this week at the 2022 Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit in Atlanta April 18-22.

19 Apr 2022

Outpatient antibiotic treatment for infective endocarditis improves outcomes, reduces costs

A new modeling study suggests that when patients who inject opioids continue an antibiotic treatment for infective endocarditis outside of the hospital, they experienced better long-term health outcomes than patients who receive the standard four to six weeks of inpatient, intravenous antibiotic therapy.

28 Feb 2022

Scientific statement highlights the uncertainty about health effects of marijuana

Despite the perception that marijuana is harmless, there is some scientific evidence challenging that belief, and there are many unanswered questions about its impact on brain health, according to a new American Heart Association scientific statement published today in the Association's journal Stroke.

10 Feb 2022

Rapid, highly accurate drug detection vital to reducing the adverse impacts of addiction

Rapid, accessible and highly accurate detection of addictive substances such as opiates and cocaine is vital to reducing the adverse personal and societal impacts of addiction, something current drug detection systems can take too long to provide.

22 Jan 2022

UTEP to develop new initiative to reduce HIV in people who use drugs in the El Paso-Ciudad Juárez border

The University of Texas at El Paso will develop a sustainable public health intervention to suppress human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in people who use drugs in the El Paso-Ciudad Juárez border region to help slow the spread of HIV.

11 Dec 2021

CDC launches complementary education campaigns to save more lives from drug overdose

To save more lives from drug overdose, the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently launched four complementary education campaigns intended to reach young adults ages 18-;34 years.

30 Oct 2021

Women may be more vulnerable to drug addiction and addiction-like behaviors than men

The results of several new studies focusing on sex differences in pain and addiction indicate females could be more susceptible to drug addiction and addiction-like behaviors than males. Researchers also explored the role of lack of sleep on the likeliness to relapse. This is due in part to hormone differences in females and males. Data from the studies will be presented virtually October 19–22 at the American Physiological Society's seventh conference on New Trends in Sex and Gender Medicine.

20 Oct 2021

Study uncovers neuronal circuitry that may play a key role in mediating pain-induced anhedonia

A new study published today in Nature Neuroscience has uncovered neuronal circuitry in the brain of rodents that may play an important role in mediating pain-induced anhedonia - a decrease in motivation to perform reward-driven behaviors.

18 Oct 2021

Researchers explore how opioids may have become so widely abused

Researchers may have uncovered new answers on how to create safer opioids. Design a new opioid to bypass the part of brain that feels pleasure, but retain the analgesic properties, which make opioids one of the most effective pain relievers.

15 Oct 2021