Opioid Drug News and Research

RSS

New insights into pain mechanisms

Long treated as a side effect, pain is now widely recognized as an integral part of patient care.

7 Dec 2005

Link between eating and pain relief - brain stem blocks pain to protect key behaviors

Certain behaviors, such as eating, drinking and urinating, are so crucial to survival that the brains of all vertebrates contain clusters of nerve cells that can suppress pain long enough to allow the animal to eat, drink - or pee - in peace.

15 Nov 2005

Fentanyl transdermal patch is an effective way to control pain in children

A new study says using a transdermal patch to deliver the opioid fentanyl is an effective way to control pain in children

14 Nov 2005

Studies outline dangers of mixing stress, deprivation and tempting foods

Two studies in the October issue of Behavioral Neuroscience show that when animals are stressed, deprived and exposed to tempting food, they overeat, with different degrees of interaction.

7 Nov 2005

Morphine withdrawal enhances hepatitis C virus (HCV) replicon expression

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have demonstrated that morphine withdrawal complicates hepatitis C by suppressing IFN-alpha-mediated immunity and enhancing virus replication.

30 Oct 2005

People living in predominantly minority areas face significant barriers to accessing pain medication

Chronic pain is a condition that affects one in five Americans without regard for their race or finances. But a new study finds that minorities and people with low incomes have less access than high-income white people to the medications that will help them endure their pain.

10 Oct 2005

Evaluation of the efficacy of buprenorphine hydrochloride and clonidine hydrochloride, in detoxification of opioid-dependent teenagers

In a comparison of two drugs prescribed to treat teenagers dependent on heroin and other opioids, the drug buprenorphine was more effective, especially in treatment retention, according to a study in the October issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

4 Oct 2005

Researchers set out to determine the effectiveness of endomorphin 1, with a painkilling capacity equal to or greater than morphine

Nearly one third of the world's adult population suffers with the pain of arthritis. While NSAIDs and COX-2 inhibitors offer the promise of relief, these drugs also bring the risk of adverse effects, from stomach ulcers to heart attack.

3 Oct 2005

Possibility of tailored treatments for addiction based on how a person's genes behave

Scientists have learned how a genetic variation long suspected in making some people susceptible to alcoholism and narcotic drug addiction actually does so.

27 Sep 2005

Quitting heroin under anesthesia is dangerous and ineffective

According to a new study, having a general anesthesia is not an effective way for heroin users to avoid the painful, drawn-out process of breaking their habit and can be dangerous.

24 Aug 2005

Brain can be tricked into thinking the pain has gone

A new U.S. study has found that it is possible that by just thinking that a medicine will relieve pain is enough to prompt the brain to release its own natural painkillers, and soothe painful sensations.

24 Aug 2005

First direct evidence that endorphins play a role in the phenomenon known as the placebo effect

Just thinking that a medicine will relieve pain is enough to prompt the brain to release its own natural painkillers, and soothe painful sensations, a new University of Michigan study finds.

23 Aug 2005

Use of general anesthesia for heroin detoxification offers no benefit when compared to two other methods

The use of general anesthesia for heroin detoxification offers no benefit when compared to two other methods, and is associated with several potentially life-threatening adverse events, according to an article in the August 24/31 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

23 Aug 2005

Blondes may have fun but redheads can take the pain

According to a new British study, blondes may have more fun, but redheads are less likely to feel the pain.

10 Aug 2005

Endorphin system may hold the key to understanding and treating bulimia nervosa

The role of the brain's opioid receptor system - or endorphin system - may hold the key to understanding and treating bulimia nervosa, according to research reported in the Society of Nuclear Medicine's August issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

9 Aug 2005

Mixing slow-release painkillers with alcohol - potentially deadly

Health Canada has issued a warning that mixing some slow-release painkillers with alcohol could be potentially deadly.

4 Aug 2005

Prescription drug abuse in the USA exceeds 15 million

A recently released report by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University suggests between 1992 and 2003, more Americans were abusing controlled prescription drugs than cocaine, hallucinogens, inhalants and heroin put together.

11 Jul 2005

Drug abusers are increasingly turning to a slow-release form of drug fentanyl

Drug abusers are increasingly turning to a slow-release form of a powerful painkiller for a quick and dangerous high, University of Florida researchers warn. The trend is raising alarm as the number of people dying from an overdose of the drug fentanyl, an opioid 100 times more potent than morphine, rises.

6 Jul 2005

Office-based buprenorphine treatment for drug abuse shows promise

Patients who receive buprenorphine treatment for opioid addiction in an office-based setting are more likely than those receiving methadone treatment to be young men, new to drug use, and with no history of methadone treatment, Yale School of Medicine researchers report in a study published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

28 Jun 2005