Opiates

<p>Recovering from opioid addiction was the final blow to my relationship My wife left me when I was 40 days sober from opioids. “This is too hard,” she said. In that moment, I vowed that I would never be with anyone who said things were “too hard” again, but the truth is, she was right.&hellip;&nbsp;<a href="https://drugadvisorycouncilaustralia.org.au/recovering-from-opioid-addiction-was-the-final-blow-to-my-relationship/" rel="bookmark">Read More &raquo;<span class="screen-

<p>A study from the Waisman Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),&nbsp;found that mothers who were prescribed opioids just before becoming pregnant were more likely to have a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or a child with other developmental disabilities (DDs) and some autism&hellip;&nbsp;<a href="https://drugadvisorycouncilaustralia.org.au/key-findings-opioids-prescribed-just-befo

<p>The opioid crisis that exists today developed over the past 30 years. The reasons for this are many. Good intentions to improve pain and suffering led to increased prescribing of opioids, which contributed to misuse of opioids and even death. Following the publication of a short letter to the editor in a major medical journal&hellip;&nbsp;<a href="https://drugadvisorycouncilaustralia.org.au/how-good-intentions-contributed-to-bad-outcomes-the-opioid-crisis/" rel="bookmark">

<p>Transmission of other bloodborne infections, particularly HIV and hepatitis B virus (HBV), is also increasing among injection-drug users, albeit at a slower rate. The opioid epidemic has also been linked to increasing rates of syphilis and other sexually transmitted infections, microbial endocarditis, and other infections associated with unsafe drug injection.3 The social and economic costs&hellip;&nbsp;<a href="https://drugadvisorycouncilaustralia.org.au/hepatitis-c-in-in

<p>Abstract – Mayo Clinic The opioid crisis that exists today developed over the past 30 years. The reasons for this are many. Good intentions to improve pain and suffering led to increased prescribing of opioids, which contributed to misuse of opioids and even death. Following the publication of a short letter to the editor in&hellip;&nbsp;<a href="https://drugadvisorycouncilaustralia.org.au/how-good-intentions-contributed-to-bad-outcomes-the-opioid-crisis-2-2/" rel="bookmar

<p>“A complementary and necessary approach is to target the “demand” side of opioid use, namely, implementation of preventive measures, educating physicians, requiring physician continuing education for opioid prescribing licensure, and addressing why patients use opioids in the first place. Indeed, prevention of initiation of use is the only 100% safeguard against addiction; however, millions of&hellip;&nbsp;<a href="https://drugadvisorycouncilaustralia.org.au/beyond-supply-

<p>March 6, 2018 &#8211; Abstract Naloxone access may unintentionally increase opioid abuse through two channels: (1) saving the lives of active drug users, who survive to continue abusing opioids, and (2) reducing the risk of death per use, thereby making riskier opioid use more appealing. By increasing the number of opioid abusers who need to&hellip;&nbsp;<a href="https://drugadvisorycouncilaustralia.org.au/the-moral-hazard-of-lifesaving-innovations-naloxone-access-opioid-a

<p>A. Benjamin Srivastava, MDCorrespondence information about the author MD A. Benjamin Srivastava Email the author MD A. Benjamin Srivastava,&nbsp;Mark S. Gold, MD Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO DOI:&nbsp;https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocp.2018.01.018 The opioid epidemic is the most important and most serious public health crisis today. The effects are reported in overdose deaths&hellip;&nbsp;<a href="https://drugadvisorycounci

<p>13 DECEMBER 2017 &#8211;&nbsp;WHO has this week endorsed a recommendation from the Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD) to include carfentanil, an analogue of the prescription opioid fentanyl, into Schedules I and IV of the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. Schedule I substances are subject to strict drug control measures. Additional control under&hellip;&nbsp;<a href="https://drugadvisorycouncilaustralia.org.au/who-recommends-the-most-stringent-level-of-i

<p>Notwithstanding the $600 million federal Settlement with Purdue in 2007 — one of the largest in history with a drug company — opioid litigation has yet to financially dent the $13-billion-a-year opioid industry. View PDF</p>

<p>In 2016, roughly&nbsp;64,000 people&nbsp;died from drug overdoses, and opioids accounted for nearly two-thirds of those deaths. It is difficult to comprehend the full scope and magnitude of the opioids crisis, its causes, and its consequences—for families, communities, and workplaces. But better understanding the challenges it poses is a necessary first step to informed public policy.&hellip;&nbsp;<a href="https://drugadvisorycouncilaustralia.org.au/the-numbers-behind-the-

<p>Oct. 30, 2017 (HealthDay News) &#8212; Opioid addicts saved by the overdose reversal medication naloxone are still in danger following their close brush with death, a new study shows.About 10 percent of overdose patients saved with naloxone (Narcan) in Massachusetts hospitals ended up dying within a year, Harvard researchers reported.Further, half of those who died&hellip;&nbsp;<a href="https://drugadvisorycouncilaustralia.org.au/lethal-dangers-lurk-even-after-opioid-od-re

<p>Addiction Science &amp; Clinical Practice201712:9 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13722-017-0074-0 Background Opioid use disorder (OUD) affects approximately 21.9 million people worldwide. This study aims to determine the association between age of onset of opioid use and comorbid disorders, both physical and psychiatric, in patients receiving methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) for OUD. Understanding this association may inform clinical practice about&hellip;&nbsp;<a href="htt

<p>More kids are ingesting buprenorphine, a medication usually used by addicts trying to get clean REUTERS By Ethan Harfenist Mar 20, 2017 at 4:29 PM ET&nbsp;Although buprenorphine, the main ingredient in opioid replacement medications such as Suboxone and Subutex, has helped countless addicts wean themselves off more deadly opioids, a new study has found that&hellip;&nbsp;<a href="https://drugadvisorycouncilaustralia.org.au/this-lifesaving-opioid-addiction-treatment-is-putti

<p>(USA) Vivek H. Murthy, M.D., M.B.A.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The annual number of overdose deaths involving prescription and illicit opioids has nearly quadrupled since 2000, and this increase parallels marked growth in the quantity of opioid pain relievers being prescribed.1,2 In addition,

<p>AbstractWhilst disturbances of female reproductive hormones and function are commonplace in opioid dependence, their pathophysiological interrelationships are not well understood. Hormonal levels in females were compared in 77 opioid dependent patients (ODP) and 148 medical controls (MC) including 205 and 364 repeat studies. Significant changes in FSH, LH, oestradiol, testosterone and SBG were noted including&hellip;&nbsp;<a href="https://drugadvisorycouncilaustralia.org.a

<p>Published: Thursday 23 June 2016 Almost 10 million U.S. adults report misusing prescription opioids in 2012-2013. Nonmedical use of prescription opioids more than doubled among adults in the United States from 2001-2002 to 2012-2013, based on a study from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health.&hellip;&nbsp;<a href="https://drugadvisorycouncilaustralia.org.au/rates-of-nonmedical-prescription-opioid-use-and-

<p>&nbsp; Overwhelming evidence points to chronic alterations in sleep from chronic use of addictive substances that may be distinct from some or all of the acute effects of those substances. Interestingly, the effects of chronic use on sleep are similar among both CNS stimulants and depressants. Decreased sleep time, increased sleep latency and wake time&hellip;&nbsp;<a href="https://drugadvisorycouncilaustralia.org.au/sleep-abnormalities-associated-with-alcohol-cannabis-coc

<p>AbstractThrough improved adherence, once-monthly injectable extended-release naltrexone (XR-NTX) may provide an advantage over other oral agents approved for alcohol and opioid dependence treatment. The objective of this study was to evaluate cost and utilization outcomes between XRNTX and other pharmacotherapies for treatment of alcohol and opioid dependence. Published studies were identified through comprehensive search of&hellip;&nbsp;<a href="https://drugadvisorycounci

<p>Whilst OTC opioid issue in this article refers to the US current issue, the Australian context is beginning to catch up! Nora D. Volkow, M.D., and A. Thomas McLellan, Ph.D.: N Engl J Med 2016; 374:1253-1263&nbsp; March 31, 2016DOI: 10.1056/NEJMra1507771&nbsp;However, two major facts can no longer be questioned. First, opioid analgesics are widely diverted and&hellip;&nbsp;<a href="https://drugadvisorycouncilaustralia.org.au/opioid-abuse-in-chronic-pain-misconceptions-and-m