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.

Extensive use of opioid agonists can considerably reduce drug-related deaths

New evidence that opioid agonists such as methadone and buprenorphine could substantially reduce drug-related deaths if more widely used in the community and prison, and for longer, has been published in Lancet Psychiatry.

25 Feb 2021

Post-surgery opioid prescribing guideline leads to high patient satisfaction with pain management

A prescribing guideline tailored to patients' specific needs reduced the number of opioid pills prescribed after major surgery with researchers reporting a greater than 90 percent patient satisfaction rate with pain management and the highest compliance rate to date with appropriate disposal of leftover pills.

25 Feb 2021

Recommendations to help ensure access to high-quality opioid use disorder treatment

On January 14, 2021, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) submitted notice to the Federal Register that it would issue practice guidelines that exempt physicians from the requirement to apply for a waiver to prescribe buprenorphine to treat opioid use disorder (OUD) in up to 30 patients at one time.

25 Feb 2021

Researchers study how seasons influence the brain function

A Finnish research group has studied how seasons influence the function of the brain. Researchers at the Turku PET Centre showed that the length of daylight affects the opioid receptors, which in turn regulates the mood we experience.

23 Feb 2021

Three decades-old antibiotics could offer an alternative to opioid-based painkillers

Three decades-old antibiotics administered together can block a type of pain triggered by nerve damage in an animal model, UT Southwestern researchers report.

23 Feb 2021

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Open enrollment, one more time

An estimated 9 million Americans eligible for free or reduced premium health insurance under the Affordable Care Act have a second chance to sign up for 2021 coverage, since the Biden administration reopened enrollment on healthcare.gov and states that run their own marketplaces followed suit.

18 Feb 2021

New automated system may reduce opioid misuse

After more than 1,000 orthopedic procedures at a city health system, roughly 61 percent of the opioids prescribed to patients went unused, according to new research.

18 Feb 2021

Opioid supply-controlling policies may have unintended consequences, finds study

In response to the increase in opioid overdose deaths in the United States, many states have implemented supply-controlling and harm-reduction policy measures aimed at reducing those deaths.

17 Feb 2021

Study highlights promising opportunities that may reduce wasteful health care spending

Spending on low-value health care among fee-for-service Medicare recipients dropped only marginally from 2014 to 2018, despite both a national campaign to better educate clinicians and increasing use of payment revisions that discourage wasteful care, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

17 Feb 2021

Poor and terminally ill Mexicans have less chance to get opioids intended for palliative care

If you're poor and terminally ill in southern Mexico, there's far less chance you'll get the painkillers you need for palliative care than your cousins in more prosperous regions, particularly those pharmacy-rich areas along Mexico-U.S. border, say UCLA researchers and colleagues who studied opioid dispensing levels across the country.

13 Feb 2021

Opioid use during pregnancy can cause long-lasting impairment in the infant's brain

As the number of pregnant women using opioid drugs continues to rise, questions have been raised about the long-term health effects on children exposed to these drugs in the womb.

12 Feb 2021

Modified lipids target the body’s endocannabinoid system to regulate pain and inflammation

When modified using a process known as epoxidation, two naturally occurring lipids are converted into potent agents that target multiple cannabinoid receptors in neurons, interrupting pathways that promote pain and inflammation, researchers report.

10 Feb 2021

Study finds increased substance use, mental health issues in people with obesity during the pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic is having a detrimental impact on substance use, mental health, and weight-related health behaviors among people with obesity, according to a new study by researchers at UT Southwestern and the UTHealth School of Public Health.

8 Feb 2021

Experimental vaccine diminishes fatal respiratory effects of synthetic opioids

As the opioid epidemic raged on with an even greater force during COVID-19, the Scripps Research laboratory of chemist Kim Janda, PhD, has been working on new therapeutic interventions that may be able to prevent the bulk of deaths from opioid overdose.

4 Feb 2021

Study finds increased opioid consumption two years after intensive care

Nearly 11 percent of people admitted to an intensive care unit in Sweden between 2010 and 2018 received opioid prescriptions on a regular basis for at least six months and up to two years after discharge.

2 Feb 2021

New WHO guidelines provide recommendations for managing chronic pain in children

Chronic pain or pain that persists or recurs for longer than three months in children is a significant public health problem and a leading cause of morbidity in children globally.

1 Feb 2021

Enriched diet and companionship can reduce pain in mice with sickle cell disease

Researchers from the University of California, Irvine and the University of Minnesota have found that an enriched diet and companionship can reduce pain in mice with sickle cell disease by increasing serotonin.

1 Feb 2021

Pharmacogenetic tests can benefit four million UK patients annually

Four million UK patients could benefit annually from genetic testing before being prescribed common medicines, according to new research from the University of East Anglia (UEA) in collaboration with Boots UK and Leiden University (Netherlands).

29 Jan 2021

Active cannabis dispensaries linked to reduced opioid-related mortality rates

Counties with a greater number of cannabis dispensary storefronts experience reduced numbers of opioid-related deaths relative to other locales, a recent University of California, Davis, study has found.

29 Jan 2021

People who take opioid for chronic pain may find it hard to access new primary care clinics

People who take opioid medications for chronic pain may have a hard time finding a new primary care clinic that will take them on as a patient if they need one, according to a new "secret shopper" study of hundreds of clinics in states across the country.

28 Jan 2021

Opioids News and Research

Further Reading

Extensive use of opioid agonists can considerably reduce drug-related deaths

Post-surgery opioid prescribing guideline leads to high patient satisfaction with pain management

Recommendations to help ensure access to high-quality opioid use disorder treatment

Researchers study how seasons influence the brain function

Three decades-old antibiotics could offer an alternative to opioid-based painkillers

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Open enrollment, one more time

New automated system may reduce opioid misuse

Opioid supply-controlling policies may have unintended consequences, finds study

Study highlights promising opportunities that may reduce wasteful health care spending

Poor and terminally ill Mexicans have less chance to get opioids intended for palliative care

Opioid use during pregnancy can cause long-lasting impairment in the infant's brain

Modified lipids target the body’s endocannabinoid system to regulate pain and inflammation

Study finds increased substance use, mental health issues in people with obesity during the pandemic

Experimental vaccine diminishes fatal respiratory effects of synthetic opioids

Study finds increased opioid consumption two years after intensive care

New WHO guidelines provide recommendations for managing chronic pain in children

Enriched diet and companionship can reduce pain in mice with sickle cell disease

Pharmacogenetic tests can benefit four million UK patients annually

Active cannabis dispensaries linked to reduced opioid-related mortality rates

People who take opioid for chronic pain may find it hard to access new primary care clinics

Event guide: The Non-Opioid Pain Therapeutics Summit eBook

The Critical Role of Sample Storage in Drug Discovery and Development

Advancing Neuroscience Research Through Collaboration and Patient-Centered Innovation

The impact of vibration on microscopy

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