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.

Updated CDC guidelines for prescribing opioids

The United States Centers CDC updated their clinical practice guidelines for opioid prescription in pain management.

8 Nov 2022

Rheumatoid arthritis patients taking opioids have twice the risk of venous thromboembolism

New research presented this week at ACR Convergence 2022, the American College of Rheumatology's annual meeting, found that adult RA patients starting opioids had twice the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) compared to patients starting nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).

8 Nov 2022

Dangers of recreational/medical cannabis use

Researchers describe the wide range of neurological effects associated with cannabis use.

26 Oct 2022

Green eyeglasses may help reduce the need for opioids to manage severe pain in fibromyalgia patients

Wearing special green eyeglasses for several hours a day reduces pain-related anxiety and may help decrease the need for opioids to manage severe pain in fibromyalgia patients and possibly others who experience chronic pain, according to a study being presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY 2022 annual meeting.

24 Oct 2022

Study reports disparities in the use of regional anesthesia techniques

Women, minorities and patients enrolled in Medicaid are less likely to receive regional anesthesia techniques that consistently improve outcomes after surgery, suggests research being presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY® 2022 annual meeting.

24 Oct 2022

New study highlights how pain management practices are changing after surgery

Although there has been no decrease in the number of opioid prescriptions seniors receive after surgery, the doses of those prescriptions are lower, according to a study of more than a quarter million Canadian patients being presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY 2022 annual meeting.

24 Oct 2022

Analysis finds higher level of opioid abuse among sexual minorities compared to heterosexuals

Although opioid abuse in the U.S. is trending downward overall, it remains higher among non-heterosexuals than heterosexuals, according to an analysis of national survey data being presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY 2022 annual meeting.

24 Oct 2022

Researchers assess wastewater sampling for SARS-CoV-2 surveillance

Researchers assessed the feasibility of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) surveillance using wastewater sampling.

18 Oct 2022

Survey: Majority of physicians favor using telehealth for delivering opioid use disorder treatment

A survey of more than 1,000 registered physicians who used telehealth services to treat patients with opioid-use disorder during COVID-19 found that an overwhelming majority favor making telehealth a permanent part of their practice.

13 Oct 2022

Hospitals have been slow to bring on addiction specialists

In December, Marie, who lives in coastal Swampscott, Massachusetts, began having trouble breathing. Three days after Christmas, she woke up gasping for air and dialed 911.

11 Oct 2022

Researchers receive $1.1 million NIH grant to implement a telehealth platform for opioid use disorder

Over the past two decades, drug overdose deaths in the U.S. have increased manifold, with over 70% of 2019 drug deaths attributable to opioids.

5 Oct 2022

Addiction experts fear the fallout if California legalizes sports betting

Since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that states could legalize betting on sports, California — with 40 million people and numerous professional teams — has been the great white whale, eluding gambling companies and casino-hosting tribal communities.

5 Oct 2022

Orthopedic surgery patients can recover just as well without using opioid-based painkillers

Patients can recover from orthopedic surgery just as well without using opioid-based painkillers, says a McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association.

5 Oct 2022

Study: Lack of naloxone linked to high rates of overdose deaths in rural areas

Pennsylvania has one of the highest rates of opioid overdose in the nation, and, according to Penn State researchers, one's chances of surviving that overdose can depend on where the person lives.

3 Oct 2022

Study tests the impact of e-mail alerts on risky opioid prescribing

Researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health reported new findings from a clinical trial of email alerts from pharmacists to doctors and other practitioners to reduce risky opioid prescribing.

30 Sep 2022

Artificial intelligence tools speed up the process of identifying people who inject drugs

An automated process that combines natural language processing and machine learning identified people who inject drugs (PWID) in electronic health records more quickly and accurately than current methods that rely on manual record reviews.

22 Sep 2022

Patients with late-stage knee OA incur high costs for nonoperative treatments before total knee arthroplasty

In the year before total knee arthroplasty (TKA), patients incur considerable costs for nonoperative treatments and other procedures for osteoarthritis (OA) – raising questions about the value of those procedures, reports a study in The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery.

22 Sep 2022

Doctors rush to use Supreme Court ruling to escape opioid charges

Dr. Nelson Onaro conceded last summer that he'd written illegal prescriptions, although he said he was thinking only of his patients. From a tiny, brick clinic in Oklahoma, he doled out hundreds of opioid pills and dozens of fentanyl patches with no legitimate medical purpose.

19 Sep 2022

Study finds spike in the "Years of Life Lost" among adolescents during COVID-19 pandemic

The first year of the COVID-19 pandemic saw a 113% increase in the "Years of Life Lost" among adolescents and young people in the United States due to unintentional drug overdose, according to researchers at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and College of Medicine.

13 Sep 2022

New long-term opioid use associated with a heightened risk of death, study finds

New long term use of opioids to quell pain after lung cancer surgery is linked to a 40% heightened risk of death from any cause within the next 2 years, finds research published online in the journal Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine.

13 Sep 2022

Opioids News and Research

Further Reading

Updated CDC guidelines for prescribing opioids

Rheumatoid arthritis patients taking opioids have twice the risk of venous thromboembolism

Dangers of recreational/medical cannabis use

Green eyeglasses may help reduce the need for opioids to manage severe pain in fibromyalgia patients

Study reports disparities in the use of regional anesthesia techniques

New study highlights how pain management practices are changing after surgery

Analysis finds higher level of opioid abuse among sexual minorities compared to heterosexuals

Researchers assess wastewater sampling for SARS-CoV-2 surveillance

Survey: Majority of physicians favor using telehealth for delivering opioid use disorder treatment

Hospitals have been slow to bring on addiction specialists

Researchers receive $1.1 million NIH grant to implement a telehealth platform for opioid use disorder

Addiction experts fear the fallout if California legalizes sports betting

Orthopedic surgery patients can recover just as well without using opioid-based painkillers

Study: Lack of naloxone linked to high rates of overdose deaths in rural areas

Study tests the impact of e-mail alerts on risky opioid prescribing

Artificial intelligence tools speed up the process of identifying people who inject drugs

Patients with late-stage knee OA incur high costs for nonoperative treatments before total knee arthroplasty

Doctors rush to use Supreme Court ruling to escape opioid charges

Study finds spike in the "Years of Life Lost" among adolescents during COVID-19 pandemic

New long-term opioid use associated with a heightened risk of death, study finds

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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