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Research documents the existing models of care for patients with opioid use disorder

Data show that concurrent with the opioid overdose crisis, there has been an increase in hospitalizations of people with opioid use disorder (OUD).

4 Aug 2021

Study shows increased risk of overdose and mental health crisis following opioid dose tapering

Opioid therapy is complex. In recent years, a rise in opioid-related deaths and changing prescribing guidelines and regulatory policies have led many physicians to reduce daily doses for patients prescribed stable opioid therapy for chronic pain.

3 Aug 2021

As holdout Missouri joins nation in monitoring opioid prescriptions, experts worry

Kathi Arbini said she felt elated when Missouri finally caught up to the other 49 states and approved a statewide prescription drug monitoring program this June in an attempt to curb opioid addiction.

26 Jul 2021

Study reflects shortcomings in how the U.S. handles care for people with opioid addiction

As opioid overdose deaths rose during the COVID-19 pandemic, people seeking treatment for opioid addiction had to wait nearly twice as long to begin methadone treatment in the United States than in Canada, a new Yale study has shown.

23 Jul 2021

Taking "z-drugs" with opioids increases risk of death

A new study by Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers of more the 400,000 Medicare patients taking medications for insomnia found that the risk of death is increased when either benzodiazepines or "z-drugs" are taken with opioids.

16 Jul 2021

Researchers examine the effect of silicon intake on lung morphology of rodents

Bone density, skin and hair health, and the mobility of joints depend to a great extent on the microelement of silicon.

15 Jul 2021

How ERs fail patients with addiction: One patient’s tragic death

Jameson Rybak tried to quit using opioids nearly a dozen times within five years. Each time, he'd wait out the vomiting, sweating and chills from withdrawal in his bedroom.

15 Jul 2021

Study highlights burden of methamphetamine-associated heart failure hospitalizations in California

Heart failure hospitalizations and costs related to methamphetamine use jumped sharply over a decade in California, according to new research published today in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, an American Heart Association journal.

14 Jul 2021

Canadians with a history of drug dependence more likely to have mental illness, finds study

New research published online in the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction found that Canadians with a history of drug dependence are much less likely to have flourishing mental health and are more likely to have mental illness.

14 Jul 2021

California lawmakers push feds to allow a therapy that pays meth users to abstain

In his multiple attempts to overcome a methamphetamine addiction that ground through two decades of his life, Tyrone Clifford Jr. remembers well the closest he came. "The most success I had," he said, "is when my dealer was in jail."

2 Jul 2021

Sunflower peptide identified as a potential drug for treating abdominal pain

A naturally occurring peptide in sunflower seeds was synthetically optimised and has now been identified as a potential drug for treating abdominal pain or inflammation (in the gastrointestinal tract, abdominal area and/or internal organs).

28 Jun 2021

Black and Hispanic Americans suffer most in biggest US decline in life expectancy since WWII

Although James Toussaint has never had covid, the pandemic is taking a profound toll on his health.

24 Jun 2021

Testing several genes can provide precise knowledge about the choice of right medicinal products

Most of us have genetic variations that increase the risk of medicinal products not being effective. In order to provide a more effective treatment with fewer side effects, we need to analyse more of these genetic variations.

22 Jun 2021

In a murky sea of mental health apps, consumers left adrift

In the eyes of the tech industry, mental health treatment is an area ripe for disruption.

22 Jun 2021

Blocking IL-11 signaling can promote liver regeneration after paracetamol-induced damage

Scientists at Duke-NUS Medical School and National Heart Centre Singapore, in collaboration with colleagues in Singapore and the UK, have shown that the human form of the signaling protein interleukin 11 (IL-11) has a damaging effect on human liver cells--overturning a prior hypothesis that it could help livers damaged by paracetamol poisoning.

18 Jun 2021

New open-source tool designed to predict drug overdose mortality in the U.S.

For two decades, the number of Americans who die each year from drug overdoses has steadily risen, from less than 20,000 in 1999 to more than 80,000 in 2020.

10 Jun 2021

Clinical trial investigates effectiveness of delivering HIV, substance use care through mobile clinics

A clinical trial is underway in five U.S. cities to determine whether delivering integrated health services through mobile clinics can improve HIV and substance use outcomes among people with opioid use disorder who inject drugs.

9 Jun 2021

Study reveals prevalence of multimorbidity among people using methamphetamine

People who use methamphetamine are more likely to have health conditions, mental illness, and substance use disorders than people who do not use the drug, according to a new study by researchers at the Center for Drug Use and HIV/HCV Research (CDUHR) at NYU School of Global Public Health.

3 Jun 2021

Opioid Agonist Therapy can reduce mortality risk in people with opioid dependence

A new global review has found that receiving Opioid Agonist Therapy (OAT) is associated with lower risk of multiple causes of death among people with opioid dependence.