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Methamphetamine use is pervasive and drives overdoses in rural communities across the U.S.

Methamphetamine remains a stubbornly prevalent illicit substance in large swaths of rural America, according to a new study by researchers at Oregon Health & Science University and other institutions.

15 Aug 2022

‘Still a lot of pain’: Four years after mass shooting, Texas community grapples with fallout

In May 2018, after a high school shooting killed 10 people, the Santa Fe Resiliency Center opened in a church. Any resident could see a counselor, attend a support group, and take part in a healing mandala coloring class, music therapy, or a workshop on emotional first aid — all free of charge.

15 Aug 2022

They call it ‘tranq’ — and it’s making street drugs even more dangerous

Approaching a van that distributes supplies for safer drug use in Greenfield, Massachusetts, a man named Kyle noticed an alert about xylazine.

11 Aug 2022

Experts use tools from artificial intelligence to rapidly identify substances that cause overdose deaths

An automated process based on computer algorithms that can read text from medical examiners' death certificates can substantially speed up data collection of overdose deaths – which in turn can ensure a more rapid public health response time than the system currently used, new UCLA research finds.

9 Aug 2022

Study highlights the urgency of removing barriers to accessing medications for opioid use disorder

The opioid overdose and death epidemic continues to worsen across the United States, but medications such as methadone, buprenorphine, and extended-release naltrexone are proven to reduce opioid overdoses by more than 50 percent.

4 Aug 2022

Music festivals embrace overdose reversal drugs, but fentanyl testing kits remain taboo

A 26-year-old was found dead at his campsite during the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in 2019. The toxicology report linked his death to a grim trend that has only worsened since.

3 Aug 2022

Carbon monoxide foam in the fight against inflammation

News-Medical speaks to Leo Otterbein about a novel way to deliver carbon monoxide to the body while bypassing its potentially hazardous effects.

2 Aug 2022

Administering low-dose buprenorphine intravenously may be a quick way to treat patients with substance use disorders

Overdose deaths involving opioids continue to be a major public health crisis, killing 1,280 people in Baltimore City in 2020, according to the Maryland Department of Health. Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers have developed a new way to treat patients with substance use disorders intravenously by administering small doses of buprenorphine, a prescription drug used to treat opioid use disorder.

1 Aug 2022

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: Prescribing rate of non-opioid pain medications increased after 2016 CDC guideline

After the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a guideline for prescribing opioids to patients experiencing chronic pain in 2016, the prescribing rate of non-opioid pain medication increased each year above and beyond what would be expected based on the preexisting trends, a new study finds.

15 Jul 2022

Study finds a drop in percentage of methadone-involved overdose deaths from January 2019 to August 2021

The percentage of methadone-involved overdose deaths relative to all drug overdose deaths declined from January 2019 to August 2021, according to a new study.

13 Jul 2022

How common is pediatric cannabis use and what are the risks?

New research evaluated the recent usage of marijuana and its derivative products, their effects and clinical manifestations, perceptions, pharmaceutics, epidemiological studies, and the long-term ramifications in pediatric populations.

12 Jul 2022

‘Hypervitaminosis D’ is on the rise and linked to serious health issues

'Overdosing' on vitamin D supplements is both possible and harmful, warn doctors in the journal BMJ Case Reports after they treated a man who needed hospital admission for his excessive vitamin D intake.

6 Jul 2022

Crowdsourced data on overdoses pinpoints where to help

Men lined up outside the Corner of Hope, a homeless resource center, eyeing free supplies on plastic shelves inside a white van.

5 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

Rejected minorities more likely to indulge in risky coping behaviors

Sexual minorities, particularly men, who experience perceived social rejection are more likely to indulge in risky coping behaviors, according to new research published today in the journal Drug and Alcohol Review.

23 Jun 2022

Kratom: A dangerous or beneficial plant?

A new study summarizes the traditional and modern uses of kratom, as well as its pharmacology, benefits, and adverse health impacts.

23 Jun 2022

Adolescents and young adults less likely to get addiction treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic

A study analyzing prescription claims for a drug used to treat opioid addictions found that adolescents and young adults were less likely than usual to get treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially if they were covered by private, commercial health insurance.

17 Jun 2022

Flexible model of care can be effective in treating opioid use disorder

Did you know that more than 26,500 Canadians died from opioid intoxication between January 2016 and September 2021? Or that more than 350,000 people who used drugs containing opioids to relieve their pain did so problematically?

15 Jun 2022