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Researchers find the potential of opioid drug to help mask fear memory

Anxiety disorders such as phobias and PTSD are fairly common problems in society. One of the prime causes of anxiety disorders is the inability to overcome the fear for certain contexts when they no longer apply.

19 Feb 2020

Addictions and drug interactions common among patients not disclosing their medication history

Some patients skip telling their doctors about the drugs and medications they are consuming. A new study shows that these patients are at a greater risk of unpleasant and sometimes dangerous drug-drug interactions as well as addictions. The study was published in the latest issue of The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association. The study is titled, “Role of opioid-involved drug interactions in chronic pain management”.

11 Dec 2019

Study: Drug overdose deaths in the U.S. are actually multiple opioid epidemics

The United States is suffering from several different simultaneous opioid epidemics, rather than just a single crisis, according to an academic study of deaths caused by drug overdoses.

9 Dec 2019

Predicting opioid-related problems among cancer survivors

Opioids play an important role in how cancer patients manage pain, but the ongoing opioid epidemic has raised concerns about their potential for abuse.

22 Nov 2019

Researchers are confronting opioid epidemic in multiple ways

With opioid drug overdose deaths skyrocketing in recent decades, researchers at Brown University's School of Public Health are confronting the epidemic in multiple ways.

30 Oct 2019

Temple researchers win NIH grant to study HIV-related neuroinflammation in context of opioid addiction

The National Institutes of Health has awarded a Temple research team a 5-year, $3.27 million grant to study neuroinflammation following HIV-infection in the context of opioid addiction.

16 Oct 2019

UIC receives $2.8 million NIH funding to tackle opioid use among people with kidney disease

The University of Illinois at Chicago has received $2.8 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health to investigate non-opioid pain management strategies for people with kidney disease, which affects about 15% of adults in the U.S.

3 Oct 2019

Prescription-only changes reduce codeine misuse in Australia

The move to prescription-only codeine in Australia has seen a 50 percent reduction in the monthly rate of codeine-related poisoning calls and halved codeine sales, finds new research led by the University of Sydney.

3 Oct 2019

Australian overdose deaths - sinister new trend

The incidence of unintentional overdose leading to death is still going up in Australia, says Australia’s Annual Overdose Report 2019. Most of the drugs involved are very powerful. They include prescription opioids and benzodiazepines as well as illegal substances like heroin and crystal methamphetamine or “ice”.

27 Aug 2019

Researchers find biological system that manages cells' response to opioid drug exposure

A team at Scripps Research in Florida has discovered a biological system that manages cells' response to opioid drug exposure. The unexpected discovery offers new ideas for improving the safety of the one of the most effective, and most abused, group of pain medications.

19 Aug 2019

Opioids are major cause of pregnancy-related deaths in Utah

Stephanie lay in the Salt Lake County jail bunk bed and thought, "Everything would be better if I just died."

28 Jun 2019

Opioid poisoning rates higher and in a more diverse population, study shows

A cohort study by Stony Brook University researchers of all payer hospital data on Long Island combined with census data indicates that opioid poisoning (OP) levels almost doubled from 2010 to 2016.

21 Jun 2019

Oklahoma’s ‘precedent-setting’ suit puts opioid drugmakers on trial

All eyes will be on Oklahoma this week when the first case in a flood of litigation against opioid drug manufacturers begins Tuesday.

28 May 2019

Breakthrough test developed to measure pain

A breakthrough test developed by Indiana University School of Medicine researchers to measure pain in patients could help stem the tide of the opioid crisis in Indiana, and throughout the rest of the nation.

14 Feb 2019

Opiod prescriptions for pet dogs misused by their masters

A new study has shown that Americans are probably increasingly consuming the opioid analgesics that are prescribed for their pet dogs. The research shows that one of the reasons behind rise in the opioid epidemic could be the rise in prescription opioids for dogs.

14 Jan 2019

Fentanyl surpasses heroin in cause of U.S. drug overdose deaths

According to a new report from health officials, Fentanyl – a synthetic opioid drug, is surpassing heroin as cause of drug overdose deaths in the United States. The report was released 12th of December 2018 in the CDC’s National Vital Statistics Report.

13 Dec 2018

How rival opioid makers sought to cash in on alarm over oxycontin’s dangers

As Purdue Pharma faced mounting criticism over deaths linked to OxyContin, rival drugmakers saw a chance to boost sales by stepping up marketing of similarly dangerous painkillers, such as fentanyl, morphine and methadone, Purdue internal documents reveal.

2 Aug 2018

Non-opioid drug shows promise for treating pain by targeting receptors on immune cells

Faced with the epidemic of opioid addiction, researchers have been charged with finding other strategies to treat pain. Their efforts largely have focused on nerve cells that transmit pain signals to the spinal cord and brain.

6 Jul 2018

Study sheds new light on sharp rise in fatal drug overdoses in recent years

A study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine sheds new light on the sharp rise in fatal drug overdoses in recent years, one of the most severe public health challenges of our time. The study found that the growth in fatal overdoses for non-Hispanic whites aged 22-56 years was sufficiently large to account for the entire growth in mortality rates and years of potential life lost (YPLL) for this population from 1999 to 2015.

22 May 2018

FDA OKs first non-opioid drug for adults with opioid withdrawal symptoms

The United States Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), in a statement this week, approved a new drug Lucemyra (lofexidine hydrochloride) for the treatment and alleviation of opioid symptom withdrawal symptoms in adults in whom the drugs have been withdrawn abruptly.

17 May 2018