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.

Half as many people are trying heroin, but marijuana use grows

Some good news from the front lines of the heroin crisis: Half as many people tried heroin for the first time in 2017 as in 2016. That's according to data released Friday from the government's annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

14 Sep 2018

Podcast: KHN’s ‘What the Health?’ A detour on a smoking off-ramp

The Food and Drug Administration declared Wednesday that vaping among teenagers has reached "an epidemic proportion." The agency told ﬁve major e-cigarette manufacturers that they had 60 days to find ways to keep their products away from minors.

14 Sep 2018

Study: Poor older Americans most likely to rely on prescription opioids

Among older Americans, the poorest are the most likely to have used prescription opioids, according to a University at Buffalo study providing new insights into unexplored contours of the opioid crisis.

12 Sep 2018

Nearly one in three opioid prescriptions in the US not justified, finds analysis

According to a nationwide analysis of physician visit records conducted by a team of researchers at Harvard Medical School and the RAND Corporation, nearly 30 percent of the outpatient opioid prescriptions made out in the United States do not have documented justification for their use.

12 Sep 2018

Medical cannabis provides relief across dozens of health symptoms, study shows

Utilizing new mobile application technology, researchers at The University of New Mexico found that medical cannabis provides immediate symptom relief across dozens of health symptoms with relatively minimal negative side effects.

11 Sep 2018

Study raises concerns about inappropriate opioid prescribing, lax documentation practices

Nearly 30 percent of outpatient opioid prescriptions in the United States lack documented clinical reasons that justify the use of these potent drugs, according to a national analysis of physician visit records conducted by researchers at Harvard Medical School and the RAND Corporation.

11 Sep 2018

FDA approves Cassipa sublingual film for maintenance treatment of opioid dependence

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Cassipa (buprenorphine and naloxone) sublingual film (applied under the tongue) for the maintenance treatment of opioid dependence.

7 Sep 2018

Researchers develop new generation of pain medications

Researchers from Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Zuse Institute Berlin have developed a new generation of pain medications.

7 Sep 2018

Nursing viewpoints on opioid crisis

Addictions nursing specialists have a unique role to play in caring for patients, families, and communities affected by the crisis.

6 Sep 2018

American Pain Society encouraged by progress toward increased funding for pain research

It's been more than two years since the National Institutes of Health released its National Pain Strategy, a comprehensive population health-level strategy for pain, and a year since announcing its Federal Pain Strategy, a long-term strategic plan for pain research.

6 Sep 2018

Rudy Giuliani’s consulting firm had hand in halting Florida’s opioid investigation

Six months after hiring former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani's consulting firm, Purdue Pharma settled a Florida state investigation that had threatened to expose early illegal marketing of its blockbuster drug OxyContin, company and state records show.

5 Sep 2018

Study sheds light on how vaso-occlusive pain crises arise in sickle-cell disease

One of the most common complications of sickle-cell disease occurs when deformed red blood cells clump together, blocking tiny blood vessels and causing severe pain and swelling in the affected body parts.

4 Sep 2018

Ketamine’s role in treatment of depression: Study

The anaesthetic drug Ketamine has been shown to be beneficial in some cases of depression and suicidal ideation which have typically failed to respond to other standard antidepressant medications. A new study has explored the actual workings of ketamine in depression and found that the drug can act on the same receptors as opioid pain relievers.

30 Aug 2018

Researchers take major step forward in finding safe and non-addictive pain killer

With the support of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, scientists at Wake Forest School of Medicine have been working to find a safe, non-addictive pain killer to help fight the current opioid crisis in this country.

30 Aug 2018

New study supports motor cortex 'excitability' as cause of restless legs syndrome

Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say new experiments using magnetic pulse brain stimulation on people with moderate to severe restless legs syndrome have added to evidence that the condition is due to excitability and hyperarousal in the part of the brain's motor cortex responsible for leg movement.

29 Aug 2018

Ketamine's acute antidepressant effect requires opioid system activation, finds study

A new study appearing online today from the American Journal of Psychiatry finds that ketamine's acute antidepressant effect requires opioid system activation, the first time that a receptor site has been shown in humans to be necessary for any antidepressant's mechanism of action.

29 Aug 2018

Stress gene increases vulnerability to developing chronic pain, study reveals

A study of more than 1,000 motor vehicle accident survivors published in JNeurosci reveals a common variant in a gene involved in the stress response that increases vulnerability to developing chronic pain. Addressing the interaction between this genetic variant and post-traumatic stress may represent a supplemental or alternative to treatment with addictive opioids.

28 Aug 2018

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