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.

Brief roundup of research done by experts at UCLA Health

Below is a brief roundup of news and story ideas from the experts at UCLA Health.

21 Dec 2022

HIV outbreak persists as officials push back against containment efforts

Brooke Parker has spent the past two years combing riverside homeless encampments, abandoned houses, and less traveled roads to help contain a lingering HIV outbreak that has disproportionately affected those who live on society's margins.

19 Dec 2022

New chemical compound shows promise to reverse effects of potentially deadly drugs

Drug overdoses in the United States have risen sharply in the last two decades. Nearly 92,000 people died from overdoses of illegal drugs and prescription opioids in 2020-;more than five times the number of deaths in the year 2000-;and synthetic opioids like fentanyl are one of the main culprits.

16 Dec 2022

New project on ultrasound device for treatment of neuropathic pain to receive NIH funding

Researchers from Florida Atlantic University's Schmidt College of Medicine, in collaboration with Albany Medical College in New York, are among seven institutions nationwide selected to receive funding from the National Institutes of Health for their innovative pilot projects to enable new medical devices to diagnose and treat both acute and chronic disorders from neuropathic pain to mental illness.

15 Dec 2022

People with cocaine- and opioid-use disorders infected with COVID-19 have greater risk of endocarditis

People diagnosed with cocaine- and opioid-use disorders are more susceptible to developing endocarditis, a condition that damages the lining of the heart valves and chambers, according to research from the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health.

14 Dec 2022

Study shows benefits of decreasing opioid refills for hip and knee arthroplasty patients

Opioids are commonly prescribed to patients that are discharged after a total knee and hip arthroplasty. Patients are typically given larger prescriptions of opioids that can result in an excess of the medication in their home after recovery is over.

14 Dec 2022

Study finds spike in endocarditis among patients with cocaine or opioid use disorder from 2011 to 2022

The incidence rate of infective endocarditis - a rare but often fatal inflammation of the heart valves - among patients with cocaine use disorder or opioid use disorder increased from 2011 to 2022, with the steepest increase occurring from 2021 to 2022, a new study reports.

13 Dec 2022

In rural America, deadly costs of opioids outweigh the dollars tagged to address them

Tim Buck knows by heart how many people died from drug overdoses in his North Carolina county last year: 10. The year before it was 12 — an all-time high.

12 Dec 2022

Concrete steps for screening, detection and treatment of adolescent substance use

Despite advances in technology and availability, one of the best ways for parents and health care providers to prevent or help stop adolescent substance use is still an old-fashioned conversation, according to a new Viewpoint published in the November issue of The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health.

9 Dec 2022

Drug overdose deaths reach a record high among pregnant and postpartum women, study reveals

Drug overdose deaths among pregnant and postpartum women increased more than 180 percent in the past five years, according to a new study conducted at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

6 Dec 2022

Study examines whether cortisone-like medicine can reduce pain after total knee arthroplasty

Results from a study by Henry Ford Health orthopedic researchers is the latest of several high-powered studies geared toward effectively managing pain and decreasing opioids use after total knee replacement surgery.

5 Dec 2022

Discontinuation of opioid therapy for pain may increase overdose risk

Opioid-related overdose is now a leading cause of accidental death in the United States and Canada. A study published December 1st in the open access journal PLOS Medicine by Mary Clare Kennedy at University of British Columbia, Kelowna, Canada, and colleagues suggests discontinuing prescribed opioids was associated with increased overdose risk.

1 Dec 2022

Addiction treatment proponents urge rural clinicians to pitch in by prescribing medication

Andrea Storjohann is glad to see that she's becoming less of a rarity in rural America.

1 Dec 2022

COVID-19 lockdown did not cause a mass surge in dispensing of opioids, study finds

While some feared that New Yorkers would re-fill prescriptions to stockpile opioid medications in the early weeks of the COVID-19 lockdown much in the way people hoarded toilet paper, in fact, New York State opioid prescriptions declined in the period around the March 20, 2020 "PAUSE" order, according to new research.

28 Nov 2022

Morphine does not reduce worst breathlessness, study finds

Sometimes healthcare professionals treat patients with opioids such as morphine to relieve symptoms, but there has been a lack of evidence as to whether this helps with severe chronic breathlessness.

23 Nov 2022

Schools, sheriffs, and syringes: State plans vary for spending $26B in opioid settlement funds

With more than 200 Americans still dying of drug overdoses each day, states are beginning the high-stakes task of deciding how to spend billions of dollars in settlement funds from opioid manufacturers and distributors.

22 Nov 2022

The player-coaches of addiction recovery work without boundaries

Sarah Wright stops by her peer support specialist's hotel room-turned-office in this Denver suburb several times a day.

16 Nov 2022

New fentanyl vaccine could prevent deadly opioid from entering the brain

A research team led by the University of Houston has developed a vaccine targeting the dangerous synthetic opioid fentanyl that could block its ability to enter the brain, thus eliminating the drug's "high."

14 Nov 2022

Restorative neurostimulation continues to be effective in treating low-back pain for three years

A study has found that restorative neurostimulation continues to be effective in treating low-back pain caused by multifidus dysfunction after three years.