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.

A patient's tolerance for risky decisions can predict chances of opioid relapse

People in treatment for opioid addiction are more likely to relapse when they become more tolerant of risks, according to a study by Rutgers and other institutions. The findings can help clinicians better predict which patients are most vulnerable.

8 Dec 2019

Methamphetamine undermines success in treatment for opioid-use disorder

Judith Tsui, a UW Medicine clinician specializing in addiction treatment, was seeing more and more patients she was treating for opioid-use disorder also using methamphetamines, a powerful, highly addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous system.

8 Dec 2019

Insights from virtual reality experiments could help break the cycle of addiction

The number of drug overdose deaths in the US has never been higher. Most of those deaths--68 percent in 2017--have involved opioids. An estimated 10 million Americans aged 12 and older misused opioids in 2018.

8 Dec 2019

Chronic disease prevention could help curb the opioid epidemic

Preventing chronic disease could help curb the opioid epidemic, according to research from the University of Georgia.

5 Dec 2019

ACS and APSA address safe and effective pain control after surgery for children, teens

Given the current rates of opioid abuse in the U.S, it is critical that surgical patients understand how to safely use these pain-relieving medications and properly dispose of these substances when no longer needed.

5 Dec 2019

Built for counterterrorism, this high-tech machine is now used to detect fentanyl

Sarah Mackin runs a cotton swab around the inside of a tiny plastic baggie that appears empty. She spreads whatever residue the swab picked up onto a test strip that resembles a Band-Aid, then slides the strip into a buzzing machine about the size of a boxed, take-home pie.

4 Dec 2019

AMSSM announces recipients of $300,000 research grant for OA treatment

The American Medical Society for Sports Medicine and its Collaborative Research Network are pleased to announce the recipients of a $300,000 research grant, made possible by Avanos Medical, to study the treatment of musculoskeletal conditions using cooled radiofrequency ablation (CRFA) technology.

3 Dec 2019

Study reveals clue to preventing addiction relapse

With any addiction in which a user has successfully resisted a chemical, activity or substance, relapse is vexing. And with opioids, it's often deadly. Fatal overdoses following relapse from an opioid addiction is reaching epidemic proportions.

2 Dec 2019

New $300,000 grant-funded program to address opioid prescribing for cancer patients

The University of Illinois at Chicago has received a grant from the Coleman Foundation to develop a screening process for prescribing opioids and managing opioid use disorders in cancer patients who receive care at UI Health, UIC's clinical health enterprise.

2 Dec 2019

Risk of opioid overdose rises after de-addiction treatment completion

A study from Columbia University reveals that patients, who have been successfully treated with buprenorphine for opioid addiction, are at a greater risk of overdose after completion of the treatment. The study was titled, “Acute care, prescription opioid use, and overdose following discontinuation of long-term buprenorphine treatment for opioid use disorder”, and was published in the latest issue of The American Journal of Psychiatry. This study was funded and supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

2 Dec 2019

Consortium launches ambitious project to transform the treatment of pain

In an effort to address the critical public health need for new, safer and more effective medicines to treat pain, a consortium based at the Laboratory of Systems Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School has launched an ambitious project titled STOP PAIN (Safe Therapeutic Options for Pain and Inflammation).

2 Dec 2019

Researchers uncover the binding mechanism of opioid receptor

Together with colleagues from Shanghai, Brussels, Canada and the USA, researchers from the University of Bonn have uncovered the binding mechanism of an important pain receptor.

27 Nov 2019

Opioid use during pregnancy alters the baby's brain

During pregnancy, everything taken in by the mother crosses the placenta. Opioid use during pregnancy is tied to changes in the baby’s brain, a new study found.

25 Nov 2019

Not yesterday’s cocaine: Death toll rising from tainted drug

A pain pill prescription for nerve damage revived Gwendolyn Barton's long-dormant addiction last year, awakening fears she would slip back into smoking crack cocaine.

25 Nov 2019

Parents using marijuana could raise risk of addictions among offspring

Researchers from Harvard Medical School, McLean Hospital at Belmont, MA have found that parents using marijuana could be raising the risk of their children picking up addictions such as marijuana, tobacco, alcohol and even opiods misuse. Their study titled, “Associations of Parental Marijuana Use With Offspring Marijuana, Tobacco, and Alcohol Use and Opioid Misuse,” was published in the latest issue of the journal JAMA Network last week.

24 Nov 2019