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New model more effective in predicting risk of opioid overdose than traditional models

Current approaches to identifying people who are at high risk for overdosing on opioids target many who are not truly at high risk.

22 Mar 2019

Aspiring doctors seek advanced training in addiction medicine

The U.S. Surgeon General’s office estimates that more than 20 million people have a substance use disorder. Meanwhile, the nation’s drug overdose crisis shows no sign of slowing.

22 Mar 2019

Naltrexone implant more effective in reducing relapses in HIV patients with opioid addiction

When patients with HIV who are also battling opioid dependence go without addiction treatment, they are more likely to stop taking their HIV medications than drug-free patients.

22 Mar 2019

UTSA professor helps train first responders to detect prescription opioid overdoses

James Bray, professor and chair of the UTSA Department of Psychology, is working on a research project with agencies in Houston to train first responders in how to detect prescription opioid overdoses and provide life-saving outreach services.

20 Mar 2019

Acute doses of synthetic cannabinoid can impair critical thinking and memory

A new study shows that inhaled doses of as little as 2 mg of the synthetic cannabinoid JWH-018 can significantly impair critical thinking and memory, slow reaction times, and increase confusion and dissociation.

19 Mar 2019

New electronic support system for choosing drug treatment based on patient’s genotype

The science of pharmacogenomics (PGx) studies how genetic variability affects an individual’s response to a drug. Most patients metabolize a medication as expected. But some eliminate it from the body before it can do its work, while others process it slowly, causing it to build up in the body and risk an overdose.

19 Mar 2019

US opioid prescriptions drop by a half but it’s not all good news

The number of opioid prescriptions issued each month in the US dropped to less than a half. However, experts remain concerned about the number of high-risk prescriptions.

15 Mar 2019

Study explores whether Nordic countries could head towards opioid crisis like the U.S.

Addiction to prescription opioids has reached a crisis level in the United States. Now the drug is causing concern across the Atlantic. Researchers from Denmark, Norway and Sweden urge caution after discovering that prescriptions for the pain medication oxycodone have significantly increased during the last decade.

13 Mar 2019

Intravenous drug use related to dramatic increase in dangerous heart infection

Hospital admissions for a dangerous heart infection related to intravenous drug use increased by 436 percent from 2012-2017 at a medical center in a region hit hard by the nation's opioid crisis, according to research presented at the American College of Cardiology's 68th Annual Scientific Session.

6 Mar 2019

Many heroin users are not prepared to prevent or treat fentanyl-related overdoses, study finds

Most heroin users in Baltimore, a city heavily affected by the opioid epidemic, recognize that the heroin they buy is now almost always laced with the highly dangerous synthetic opioid fentanyl, according to a new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

6 Mar 2019

Persistant opioid use in the family may be risk factor for young adults after surgery

Having a family member with persistent opioid use may be a risk factor for young adults continuing prescriptions long after their own surgeries, a new Michigan Medicine study suggests.

28 Feb 2019

Study: Fewer American hospital programs address opioid abuse

The damage done to America's health by the opioid epidemic is well-recognized and enormous, with drug overdose death rates helping to drive down U.S. life expectancy in recent years. Yet as the problem has worsened, American hospitals collectively have seen a loss of programs dealing with substance abuse.

25 Feb 2019

$1.5 million grant to develop opioid treatment program for jail detainees

In what could serve as a model for tackling one of the nation's top public health crises, a University of Massachusetts Amherst epidemiology researcher is teaming up with two Western Massachusetts sheriff's offices to design, implement and study an opioid treatment program for jail detainees in Franklin and Hampshire counties.

22 Feb 2019

Besides the U.S., drug overdose mortality is also common in other high-income countries

Is the current American drug overdose epidemic an isolated phenomenon? Have other high-income countries experienced similar increases in drug overdose mortality, or are they likely to going forward? A new study published in Population and Development Review addresses these questions.

21 Feb 2019

Overdose News and Research

New model more effective in predicting risk of opioid overdose than traditional models

Aspiring doctors seek advanced training in addiction medicine

Naltrexone implant more effective in reducing relapses in HIV patients with opioid addiction

UTSA professor helps train first responders to detect prescription opioid overdoses

Acute doses of synthetic cannabinoid can impair critical thinking and memory

New electronic support system for choosing drug treatment based on patient’s genotype

US opioid prescriptions drop by a half but it’s not all good news

Study explores whether Nordic countries could head towards opioid crisis like the U.S.

Intravenous drug use related to dramatic increase in dangerous heart infection

Many heroin users are not prepared to prevent or treat fentanyl-related overdoses, study finds

Persistant opioid use in the family may be risk factor for young adults after surgery

Study: Fewer American hospital programs address opioid abuse

$1.5 million grant to develop opioid treatment program for jail detainees

Besides the U.S., drug overdose mortality is also common in other high-income countries

More states say doctors must offer overdose reversal drug along with opioids

The United States records highest drug overdose death rates

Research finds steep rise in self-poisonings among young people

Discharged, dismissed: ERs often miss chance to set overdose survivors on ‘better path’

New study identifies many key lessons to establish sanctioned safe consumption sites

Changing nature of opioid epidemic could be responsible for increase in overdose deaths

Achieving and maintaining ISO 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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