Posted by azdrugrehabctr on April 19, 2017 under Addiction Trends, Opiate Abuse, Prescription Drugs | 
As part of the ongoing effort to educate the public on the dangers of heroin and prescription painkiller abuse, many educators, publications and government agencies repeat the numbers. They explain that 63% of all drug overdose deaths in 2015 were due to opioids. They warn that it has become more likely to die from a heroin overdose than a car crash. That opioid-related deaths have quadrupled since 1999. And these numbers do pack a punch, but perhaps even more effective is shining a light on who is most likely to abuse opioids. New research shows that white people are using heroin and prescription painkillers at alarming rates, more so than any other race.
A closer look revealed that white males are at the top of the list. This is especially interesting because in 2001 white people and nonwhite people used heroin and other opioids at approximately the same rates. However, an even closer look shows that those that have not finished high school or who live below the poverty line are also more likely to abuse opioids. This may be because drug prevention efforts are often concentrated in schools.
And while the increasing amount of people who abuse opioids is not alarming to some experts, it is concerning to many. Perhaps because the lethal drug is gaining such popularity, many experts have begun to push for more funding to provide medication to those suffering from opioid addiction.
“The good news is that among all drugs of abuse, heroin and opioids have by far the best treatment medications available. Methadone and buprenorphine have proven effectiveness data, they not only reduce the chances of dying from an opioid overdose by 50%, they support people being in recovery from their addiction and reduce health care costs and improve a wide array of other outcomes,” explained Caleb Banta-Green, associate professor of health services at the University of Washington.
But, despite the effective drugs on the market for opioid abuse, it is still very important to focus on prevention and education. After all, according to the statistics, many people never reap the rewards of the medication.
Posted by azdrugrehabctr on October 22, 2016 under Addiction Trends, Opiate Abuse, Prescription Drugs |
In one of the first studies of its kind, researchers in the Division of Rheumatic and Autoimmune Diseases at the University of Minnesota have found that patients with lower back pain are more likely to have a prescription for painkillers as well as use drugs like marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine. While additional studies have to be conducted to find out more about the connection, this information may be a first step in developing more effective prevention tools for future prescription painkiller abuse.
The researchers compared questionnaires filled out by patients with chronic lower back pain and people without back problems. Volunteers were asked to answer questions regarding the frequency in which they used marijuana, heroin, prescription painkillers, cocaine and methamphetamine. It was found that 22.5% of adults with chronic lower back pain used prescription painkiller regularly compared to 15% of adults without the pain. This in itself isn’t that surprising, though there may be other forms of treatment that would be much better suited, depending on the severity of the pain.
“Americans with chronic low back pain are more likely to use illicit drugs than the general population, particularly the ‘hard’ drugs like cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine. There are several ways to interpret this relationship. It is possible that illicit drug use makes chronic pain more likely or leads individuals to seek a chronic pain diagnosis to obtain prescription narcotics,” explained Anna Shmagel, MD, MS, and lead author of the study. Shmagel also cautions that there could be a common underlying reason for prescription painkiller addicts and patients with lower back pain, like depression.
Opening up the research to include a more in depth look at if depression plays a role in prescription painkiller addiction is a relatively new avenue for researchers. In the past, the focus has mainly been on patients who have accidentally become addicted to painkillers. However, chronic pain has been shown to cause depression and illicit drugs have long been sought out by people looking to escape or fix their emotional problems.
As more and more research is conducted regarding prescription painkiller use and misuse it is becoming clear that preventing the reasons for taking the drugs in the first place is vital. This means that the medical profession is likely to come up with ways to improve chronic lower back pain treatment in addition to finding new methods to intervene before the back pain requires narcotic painkillers.
Posted by azdrugrehabctr on August 18, 2016 under Addiction Trends, AZ Drug Rehab News, Opiate Abuse, Prescription Drugs |
A recent Gallup Poll shows that more Americans are concerned with prescription painkiller abuse than heroin abuse. However, heroin abuse is still also a major concern. In fact, prescription drug abuse only narrowly beat out heroin abuse, in the eyes of most Americans. These types of polls are important for law makers because it shows that American residents are feeling the effects of prescription painkiller and heroin abuse at home and want something to be done about it.
The survey also showed that more women than men thought the prescription drug abuse was a problem. It also seems that people who make more money are more likely to view prescription drug abuse as a problem. 30% of those making $36,00 or less agreed that prescription drug abuse was a problem, compared to 47% of people who make between $36,000 and $90,000.
The information gathered from the Gallup poll can be used in a variety of ways. Lawmakers who are advocating for more federal funding that can be used for treatment centers or prevention programs can focus their efforts toward those that agree that prescription drug use is a real issue. As more and more people are affected by the opioid drug problem in the United States, it has become increasingly imperative to create more treatment programs with more beds available to those in need. Often times policy makers and treatment providers have a difficult time obtaining funding for these treatment centers without the help from the Federal government.
Because America is in the middle of a presidential election, some wonder if the information from this Gallup Poll will be used to help shape the platforms of the presidential nominees. While there are many issues to discuss, the opioid epidemic is certainly one of them.
Now that American citizens seem to understand the seriousness of the prescription painkiller and heroin problem in this country, there is a better chance that more effective change is near. And the opioid problem is not the only issue that Americans worry about. The poll also showed that 44% of Americans consider drugs in general as a major problem facing the country, this is up from 2014 when 34% of Americans felt this was an issue.
Posted by azdrugrehabctr on July 30, 2016 under Addiction Trends, AZ Drug Rehab News, Opiate Abuse, Prescription Drugs |
Drug or alcohol addiction does not discriminate. White, Black, Muslim, Christian, Asian or any other race or religion can fall victim to substance abuse. Immigrants can be particularly susceptible to opiate abuse because of the culture shock and overwhelming feelings of living in a new country. Heroin and painkillers can be a way to escape these overwhelming feelings. While there are apparently no current studies that effectively break down drug use by ethnicity, there is evidence that minority groups all over the country are suffering from increased use of heroin and prescription drug use.
In order to include immigrants and minorities in substance abuse prevention and education, it is important for the public to understand why these groups can turn to drugs in the first place. Unlike white suburban teenagers, immigrant teenagers are likely to turn to heroin or other illicit drugs because their new lives in America can be very overwhelming. Many other countries do not create public service announcements or programs to educate children on the dangers of certain drugs, so when people immigrate to the United States they are often unprepared to deal with the temptations of drugs.
One woman explained just how different it is to raise children in America. “It’s the transformation of how you raise your kids back home and the whole village is taking care of your kids to here. You’re in America; the only village taking care of your kids is the street,” explained Kathy Khatari, a Muslim immigrant.
Some experts have also pointed out that families of immigrant drug users are also not likely to come forward and discuss a drug addiction. The threat of shame and embarrassment that falls onto the family is often too much to allow parents and family members to speak out and educate other immigrants. Treatment and prevention efforts should be much more all-inclusive to be able to catch all of the people that are affected by addiction.
Posted by azdrugrehabctr on July 15, 2016 under Addiction Trends, AZ Drug Rehab News, Opiate Abuse, Prescription Drugs |
The opiate addiction problem is a national crisis that includes rising overdose deaths from heroin and prescription painkillers. As more and more people become addicted to the deadly drug, citizens and public officials are scrambling to find effective solutions for saving more lives. In an effort to combat the growing heroin problem, the President is expected to sign a bill that would allocate more money and services to addicts, their family members and the treatment community.
The bill, which has had a tough road so far, was voted through the Senate on Wednesday. After President Obama makes it official, many people stand to benefit. Lawmakers have included measures to help communities develop treatment and prevention facilities. While the White House has criticized the bill in the past, saying that the funding problems are not solved within the bill, they do agree that it is a good start and doing something is better than making no progress at all.
And the White House is not alone when it comes to the criticisms. “This bill is like a Hollywood movie set – something that appears real on the surface but has no substance and no life behind its façade,” commented Senator Charles Schumer (D) of New York, referring to the lack of substantial financial support.
But, despite some of the negative feelings towards the legislation, the passing of the bill is important because it helps to distinguish addiction as a medical issue. Allocating funds to treatment centers and prevention programs is the first step in treating addiction as a medical problem, rather than a law enforcement issue. In a time of widening gaps between political parties, thankfully this is an issue that legislators can agree needs attention.
Posted by azdrugrehabctr on July 6, 2016 under Addiction Trends, AZ Drug Rehab News, Opiate Abuse, Prescription Drugs |
Naloxone is a life-saving drug that has been getting more attention lately due to the number of deaths involving heroin and other opiates. The medication, which is delivered via nasal spray or injection, can reverse an overdose situation on the spot. It has been getting more use lately by first responders, but a group of researchers finds that there is even a greater need to make it more widely available.
A common misconception among most people is that only those who abuse heroin or prescription painkillers will ever be in a situation where they need the life-saving drug to prevent an overdose. However, patients who are prescribed narcotics like OxyContin and Percocet are not immune to accidental overdose. This is especially true for people who take the drug for extended periods of time due to some sort of chronic pain condition.
Experts explain that those who take prescription painkillers may not be aware that having a glass of wine after their dose greatly increases the risk of overdose. Additionally, combining other medications to handle other ailments may also make it more likely to suffer from an overdose.
The research that appears in the Annals of Internal Medicine found a 47% decrease in ER visits among opioid users after six months, and a 63% reduction over one year when patients were also given a prescription for naloxone.
“This study really does show that naloxone has a substantial role to play in managing the opioid epidemic. It’s not the answer to all our problems, but it’s an important tool to prevent mortality,” explained Dr. Phillip Coffin, director of substance use research at the San Francisco Department of Public Health.
In addition to educating patients of the risks to life associated with prescription painkillers, it is becoming more necessary to educate family members as well. Oftentimes if someone suffers from an overdose, family members or close friends are the first to find them. Understanding the signs of an overdose can sometimes determine whether the overdose is fatal or not, and having a dose of naloxone available can help save even more lives.
Posted by azdrugrehabctr on May 21, 2016 under Addiction Trends, AZ Drug Rehab News, Opiate Abuse, Prescription Drugs |
A new study conducted by researchers at Harvard University shows that there is has been a substantial increase in the number of people being hospitalized due to opioid use. These hospitalizations can include overdoses, accidents induced by painkiller use and infections.
After data was compiled using information from hospitals throughout the country, it was determined that hospitalizations related to opioid abuse and dependence have increased by 67% in ten years. In 2002, hospitals reported 302,000 admittances for opiate-related issues. In 2012, this number rose to 520,000 admittances. While data from 2013 to the present has not been available, researchers caution that these numbers have likely increased to reflect the continued worsening of the opiate problem in the United States.
“Our results characterize the financial burden on the healthcare system related to opioid abuse/dependence and one of the more serious downstream complications of this epidemic: serious infections,” explained Mathew V. Ronan and Shoshana J. Herzig, the co-authors of the study.
Increased hospitalizations not only cost the insurance companies and hospitals money, but the public is helping foot the bill as well. Many of these cases relied on Medicare or Medicaid funds to pay for the bills associated with treating these opiate addicts. Oftentimes the public does not realize how drug abuse negatively impacts the rest of society, but this is a great example of how even those that are not directly affected by the opiate crisis suffer.
Studies like this one are important because it keeps opiate abuse in the news. Some people may feel that these sorts of studies are redundant because it has already been established that prescription painkiller and heroin abuse is an epidemic in this country. However, keeping this sort of information in the news and educating the public, forces law makers and public officials to take notice and enact better policies and programs to combat this serious problem.
Posted by azdrugrehabctr on April 21, 2016 under Addiction Trends, Prescription Drugs |
An alarming study conducted by researchers at the University of Virginia uncovered a major problem among medical students and may reveal why prescription pain medications are being overprescribed to certain kinds of patients. The study looked to find why white people are more likely to be prescribed prescription painkillers over black people.
Researchers were able to determine that many white doctors held false beliefs about black people that will likely prevent them from properly treating black patients, as well as potentially answering the question of why so many white people are addicted to prescription painkillers after being prescribed the medication for real or falsified pain.
False beliefs such as black people age more slowly than white people, black people’s skin is thicker than white people’s skin and black people’s nerve endings are less sensitive than white people’s were discovered in the study of 222 white medical students. In addition to having a significant misunderstanding about the anatomy and constitution of black people, doctors have a harder time empathizing with patients that they have less in common with.
“What we found is those who endorsed more of those false beliefs showed more bias and were less accurate in their treatment recommendations,” explained Kelly Hoffman, a UVA doctoral candidate in psychology, and leader of the study. The report was presented to the National Academy of Sciences.
This study, while alarming in the sense that medical students have such an extreme misunderstanding regarding black people, points to another question about the overwhelming amounts of prescription painkillers that are being prescribed to white patients in this country. If medical students believe that white people are more sensitive to pain, or are more in need of prescription painkillers, then they would be more apt to believe someone who is complaining of pain. Unfortunately, it has become clear that sometimes they are really just seeking out a prescription for painkillers so they can abuse them or sell them on the streets.
As more and more researchers look into the prescription painkiller problem and conduct studies about doctor’s beliefs, practices and histories it is becoming clear that a change in the medical system is needed in order to stop the prescription painkiller epidemic.
Posted by azdrugrehabctr on March 8, 2016 under Addiction Trends, AZ Drug Rehab News, Prescription Drugs |
The over prescription of drugs like Oxycontin, Percocet or Xanax have led to countless painkiller and benzodiazepine addictions. The prescription abuse problem in the United States has skyrocketed over the last few years with overdose deaths having quadrupled in the last fifteen years.
However, despite the overwhelming data that prescription abuse is a serious problem in this country, many doctors are still prescribing large amounts of the drugs. Some are not changing their prescribing practices even if the patient experiences an overdose and are also not responding to warnings by the U.S government or the public.
As a way to determine what an effective warning to doctors would be, a research team led by Adam Sacarny of the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University in New York City decided to track doctors who received letters warning them that they were prescribing too much of a certain painkiller or benzodiazepine.
In order to conduct the study, the research team looked to locate doctors who were prescribing more than their neighboring peers. Once these doctors were located, the team monitored their prescription practices after they were sent a letter from Medicare stating the problem of their over prescription. Despite receiving the letter, the prescribing practices did not cease. This was interesting to the researchers because in the past, letters from Medicare comparing local vaccinations had helped to bring up the amount of vaccinations patients were receiving from a doctor that was falling behind to his peers.
A total of 1,525 doctors were sent the letters warning them that they were prescribing more narcotic painkillers or benzodiazepines than other doctors. The doctors that were singled out to receive a letter because they were prescribing over 400% more painkillers and benzodiazepines than other nearby physicians. Unfortunately, the letters from Medicare did not seem very effective. In fact, the research team witnessed no significant change at all.
While the letters may have worked in the past for other issues, it is clear that a clearer message will be needed in order to safely bring down the amount of narcotics that are being prescribed to patients throughout the country.
Posted by azdrugrehabctr on February 29, 2016 under Addiction Trends, Opiate Abuse, Prescription Drugs |
There has been a lot of investigation into the link between prescription drug abuse and heroin abuse. Since prescription painkillers are very similar to heroin as opioids, it is not a stretch to think that an addict who cannot get their hands on pills would turn to heroin eventually. Not only are the drugs similar in the effect that they have on the body, but heroin is generally less expensive and easier to find on the street.
Additionally, some people fear that the efforts being taken to decrease the availability of prescription painkillers among the public have forced addicts to begin using heroin. These factors would seem to come together to prove that heroin abuse is rising because of the prescription painkiller addiction. However, a recent study conducted by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), indicates that this belief is not necessarily valid.
“As an alternative explanation, we explore the complexity and reciprocal nature of this relationship and review the pharmacologic basis for heroin us among people who use prescription opioids nonmedically, the patterns of heroin use among people who use prescription opioids nonmedically, the current trends in heroin use and their correlates, and the effects on heroin use of policies aimed at curbing inappropriate prescribing of opioids,” explained the authors of the study.
The study showed that people who abuse prescription painkillers are not as likely to turn to heroin as some might think, though most heroin users did start out with prescription narcotics. Polices that have been enacted to reduce and monitor prescription painkiller abuse should remain in effect, as they don’t cause people to seek out heroin. The less these drugs are available and the more prevention and treatment practices used, the less opiate addicts we will have. The same drive should also be taken when it comes to heroin or any other substance that is abused.
