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Kids Most Likely to Start Abusing Painkillers at 16: Study
Posted 7 May 2012 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, May 7 – Among U.S. adolescents, misuse of prescription painkillers peaks at age 16, earlier than thought, a new large survey analysis reveals. "What our findings suggest is that if we wait until the last year of high school or college to take some kind of action that could prevent the misuse of opioid painkillers, it'll be a case of too little, too late," cautioned study co-author James Anthony, a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics in the department of epidemiology and biostatistics at Michigan State University in East Lansing. Many experts consider "extramedical" painkiller abuse – taking pain drugs such as OxyContin (oxycodone) and Vicodin (hydrocodone) to get high rather than to relieve extreme pain – the country's most serious drug challenge. Some kids had already misused these drugs by age 13 or 14, or eighth grade, the researchers found. Anthony and his ... Read more
Related support groups: Pain, Suboxone, Methadone, Oxycodone, Percocet, OxyContin, Hydrocodone, Vicodin, Morphine, Norco, Fentanyl, Lortab, Subutex, Opana, Codeine
U.S. Sees Tripling of Babies Born Addicted to Painkillers
Posted 30 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, April 30 – About one baby an hour is born addicted to powerful painkillers called opiates in the United States, a new study shows. The number of infants born with a drug withdrawal syndrome called neonatal abstinence syndrome tripled between 2000 and 2009, jumping to more than 13,000, according to a study published online April 30 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. At the same time, use of prescription painkillers such as oxycodone (OxyContin) by mothers-to-be increased fivefold, the researchers noted. "This is becoming a big problem and affecting newborns at an alarmingly high and increasing rate," said study author Dr. Stephen W. Patrick, a fellow in the University of Michigan's division of neonatal-perinatal medicine in Ann Arbor. Babies with neonatal abstinence syndrome tend to be irritable, have heightened muscle tone (hypertonia), tremors, feeding ... Read more
Related support groups: Suboxone, Methadone, Oxycodone, Percocet, OxyContin, Hydrocodone, Vicodin, Opiate Dependence, Morphine, Opiate Withdrawal, Norco, Fentanyl, Lortab, Subutex, Opana
Another Drug 'Take-Back Day' Scheduled for Saturday
Posted 26 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, April 26 – The fourth National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day is scheduled for Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says. The event gives Americans an opportunity to safely dispose of unwanted and unused prescription drugs. At the third Take-Back Day last October, participants turned in more than 377,000 pounds (188.5 tons) of unwanted or expired medications at more than 5,300 sites located in all 50 states. In total, the three Take-Back Days have taken in nearly 1 million pounds of prescription drugs during the past 13 months. "The amount of prescription drugs turned in by the American public during the past three Take-Back Day events speaks volumes about the need to develop a convenient way to rid homes of unwanted or expired prescription drugs," DEA administrator Michele Leonhart said in an agency news release. "The DEA remains hard at ... Read more
Related support groups: Suboxone, Xanax, Methadone, Oxycodone, Percocet, OxyContin, Hydrocodone, Vicodin, Adderall, Morphine, Norco, Fentanyl, Klonopin, Lortab, Subutex
Codeine After Surgery Could Endanger Certain Kids: Study
Posted 11 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, April 11 – Concerns about codeine safety have gained traction in the wake of the postoperative experience of four children who all carried a rare genetic mutation. A new study describes what happened to three of the patients, while a similar case came to light in 2009. In certain very rare genetic cases, the common painkiller codeine can be lethal. The gene mutation causes the body to metabolize codeine into morphine at levels 50 percent to 70 percent higher than normal. Among such patients, an otherwise standard amount of codeine can unpredictably turn into a toxic overdose. After undergoing tonsillectomies for sleep apnea, three children with the gene mutation ultimately died, while the fourth patient barely survived. "Codeine has been around for the better part of a century as a medication, including as a syrup for children," said study lead author Dr. Gideon Koren, a ... Read more
Related support groups: Codeine, Cheratussin AC, Tylenol with Codeine, Tylenol with Codeine 3, Postoperative Pain, Statuss, Promethazine with Codeine, Fioricet with Codeine, Robitussin-AC, Codeine/Promethazine, Fiorinal with Codeine, Phenergan with Codeine, Iophen-C NR, Codeine/Phenylephrine/Promethazine, Guiatuss AC
Seniors' Long-Term Use of Strong Painkillers a Concern
Posted 12 Mar 2012 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, March 12 – Older patients prescribed narcotic painkiller drugs, such as codeine or oxycodone, soon after short-stay surgery are at increased risk of becoming long-term users, a new study finds. Canadian researchers looked at data from almost 400,000 patients aged 66 and older who had short-stay surgery for cataracts, gallbladder removal, prostate tissue removal or varicose vein stripping. Of those patients, almost 28,000 (more than 7 percent) were prescribed narcotic painkillers, also called opioids, within seven days after hospital discharge. More than 30,000 (nearly 8 percent) were prescribed opioids one year after surgery. Almost 3,000 (more than 10 percent) of patients from both groups were identified as long-term opioid users one year after surgery. Patients who received an opioid prescription within seven days of surgery were about 44 percent more likely to become ... Read more
Related support groups: Pain, Suboxone, Methadone, Oxycodone, Percocet, OxyContin, Surgery, Hydrocodone, Vicodin, Opiate Dependence, Morphine, Norco, Fentanyl, Lortab, Subutex
Narcotic Painkillers Another Threat to Traumatized War Vets: Study
Posted 7 Mar 2012 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, March 6 – Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans who have psychiatric disorders, especially post-traumatic stress disorder, are more likely than mentally healthy vets to use prescription narcotic painkillers, a new study finds. Use of these opioid pain medications, such as OxyContin, Percocet and Vicodin, can become addictive and cause more serious problems, researchers say. "Veterans using these narcotic painkillers had worse clinical outcomes," said lead researcher Dr. Karen Seal, from the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center. "Those outcomes were wounds and injuries, alcohol and drug overdoses, opioid overdoses, violent injuries and even suicide. This was particularly true in the group with PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder]," Seal explained. In the study of pain patients, those with PTSD, an illness marked by disabling anxiety, were more than twice as likely to ... Read more
Related support groups: Methadone, Oxycodone, Percocet, OxyContin, Hydrocodone, Vicodin, Morphine, Norco, Fentanyl, Lortab, Subutex, Opana, Codeine, Dilaudid, Opana ER
Drug-Free Housing Helps Heroin, Oxycontin Addicts Recover
Posted 28 Feb 2012 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, Feb. 28 – Drug-free recovery housing and day treatment programs greatly improve the chances that those addicted to opioids who have gone through detoxification will be able to kick the habit, a new study shows. Opioid abuse includes both the use of illegal drugs such as heroin and the nonmedical use of prescription painkillers such as OxyContin, Vicodin and Percocet. Opioid addicts seeking treatment typically start with detoxification, but relapse rates within a month of undergoing detox as a standalone treatment are between 65 percent and 80 percent, according to background information in the study from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine researchers. They found that opioid addicts who were provided with drug-free recovery housing and day treatment programs after detox were up to 10 times more likely to remain drug-free. The researchers followed 243 opioid addicts – ... Read more
Related support groups: Suboxone, Methadone, Oxycodone, Percocet, OxyContin, Hydrocodone, Vicodin, Morphine, Norco, Fentanyl, Lortab, Subutex, Opana, Codeine, Dilaudid
Hard Drug Use in Middle Age Could Prove Fatal, Study Finds
Posted 3 Feb 2012 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, Feb. 3 – People who start using hard drugs – such as cocaine, opiates and amphetamines – as young adults and continue to use them into their 50s have a fivefold increased risk of early death, researchers report. The finding is from an analysis of hard drug use among 4,300 U.S. adults who took part in a long-term study of cardiovascular disease and risk factors. The participants, including blacks, whites, men and women, were recruited when they were 18 to 30 years of age and followed from 1985 to 2006. The University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers compared those who stopped drug use early in life to those who continued, and calculated their risk of premature death. "Fourteen percent of the people in the study reported recent hard-drug use at least once, and of these, half continued using well into middle age," lead author Dr. Stefan Kertesz, an associate professor in the ... Read more
Related support groups: Suboxone, Methadone, Oxycodone, Percocet, OxyContin, Hydrocodone, Vicodin, Opiate Dependence, Morphine, Norco, Fentanyl, Lortab, Subutex, Opana, Codeine
More Newborns Suffering Drug Withdrawal at Birth
Posted 30 Jan 2012 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, Jan. 30 – A dramatic rise in newborns experiencing drug withdrawal after being exposed in the womb poses challenges for clinicians on how to detox these tiny victims, a new report indicates. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has released its first updated guidelines on neonatal drug withdrawal since 1998, partly in response to the escalating abuse of both illicit and prescription drugs by pregnant women and partly in recognition of better pain management techniques for babies who are critically ill. "There have been pockets of the country where up to 25 percent of all NICU [neonatal intensive care unit] babies at any given time are being treated for withdrawal," said report co-author Dr. Mark Hudak, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Jacksonville. "The problem has percolated up and reached the attention of government and medical ... Read more
Related support groups: Methadone, Oxycodone, OxyContin, Morphine, Opiate Withdrawal, Codeine, Roxicodone, MS Contin, Diskets, Benzodiazepine Withdrawal, Kadian, Avinza, Methadose, Roxanol, Methadone Diskets
Health Tip: Help Calm a Cough
Posted 23 Jan 2012 by Drugs.com
-- If you're plagued with a cold or another respiratory illness that's causing a cough, there are things you can do to help tame the beast. The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute offers these suggestions to help calm a cough: Quit smoking. Steer clear of substances that can irritate the lungs and worsen a cough, such as air pollution, tobacco smoke, allergens and strong odors. Take all medications as prescribed by your doctor. Follow your doctor's treatment plan. Take cough medicine, if recommended by your doctor. Run a cool-mist humidifier or steam vaporizer. Read more
Related support groups: Hydrocodone, Cough, Codeine, Dry Cough, Dextromethorphan, Benzonatate, Delsym, Tessalon Perles, Tessalon, Robitussin CoughGels, Vicks Formula 44, Vicks 44 Cough Relief, ElixSure Cough, Cough Syrup DM, Pertussin CS Childrens
Opioids May Be Overused for Chronic Stomach Pain
Posted 2 Dec 2011 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, Dec. 2 – Prescriptions for opioid painkillers to treat chronic abdominal pain more than doubled in the United States between 1997 and 2008, according to a new study. This large increase of prescriptions written at outpatient clinics is concerning for several reasons, said lead author Dr. Spencer Dorn, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina Medical School at Chapel Hill, and colleagues. Very little evidence exists to support the use of opioids to treat chronic pain that isn't cancer related, and opioids are frequently misused and sometimes abused, Dorn said. Extended use of opioids can trigger other gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and constipation, and may even worsen abdominal pain, he added. The study appears in the December issue of the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Chronic abdominal pain is a common ... Read more
Related support groups: Pain, Methadone, Oxycodone, OxyContin, Hydrocodone, Morphine, Fentanyl, Subutex, Opana, Codeine, Dilaudid, Opana ER, Roxicodone, MS Contin, Nucynta
Painkiller Dependence Before Knee Surgery May Slow Recovery
Posted 18 Nov 2011 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, Nov. 18 – Recovery after knee replacement surgery can be much more difficult if patients are dependent on powerful opioid painkillers before the procedure, a new study shows. Opioids are narcotics such as morphine, codeine and oxycodone. U.S. researchers compared results of 49 knee replacements in opioid-dependent patients against recovery rates for a group of patients not dependent on narcotics. They found that patients who were opioid-dependent before surgery tended to have longer hospital stays, more unexplained pain or stiffness, a higher rate of complications and were more likely to require additional surgery, compared to patients who were not opioid-dependent. The study was published Nov. 2 in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. "We expected to find that the opioid-dependent patients have worse outcomes. But the differences between the two groups of patients were even ... Read more
Related support groups: Pain, Methadone, Oxycodone, OxyContin, Hydrocodone, Morphine, Fentanyl, Subutex, Opana, Codeine, Dilaudid, Opana ER, Roxicodone, MS Contin, Nucynta
Older ER Patients Less Likely to Get Pain Meds, Data Shows
Posted 16 Nov 2011 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 16 – Elderly patients are less likely than middle-aged patients to receive pain medications in U.S. hospital emergency departments, even when they have severe pain. That's the finding of researchers who analyzed data collected from U.S. emergency departments between 2003 and 2009. Among patients with a primary complaint of pain, an analgesic (such as morphine, oxycodone or ibuprofen) was given to 49 percent of patients 75 and older, and 68 percent of patients aged 35 to 54. An opioid (such as morphine or oxycodone) was given to about 35 percent of elderly patients and 49 percent of middle-aged patients, the investigators found. Age-related differences in the use of pain medications remained even after the researchers adjusted for factors such as sex, race/ethnicity and pain severity. Elderly patients were nearly 20 percent less likely to receive an analgesic and 15 ... Read more
Related support groups: Pain, Suboxone, Methadone, Oxycodone, Percocet, OxyContin, Hydrocodone, Vicodin, Morphine, Norco, Fentanyl, Lortab, Subutex, Opana, Codeine
Deaths From Abuse of Painkillers Triple in a Decade: CDC
Posted 1 Nov 2011 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, Nov. 1 – The number of deaths from prescription drug overdoses has tripled in a decade, hitting a peak of 36,000 fatalities in 2008, U.S. health officials reported Tuesday. "The unfortunate and shocking news is that we are in the midst of an epidemic of prescription overdose in this country," Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said during a midday news conference. Since 1999, there have been significant increases not only in overdose death rates, but in the sales of prescription painkillers such as OxyContin, Vicodin and methadone, and admission for treatment of abuse of these drugs, the CDC said. "Now there are more peopled killed by prescription narcotics than from heroin and cocaine combined," Frieden said. In 1999 there were 4,000 deaths related to painkillers, but by 2008 that number had risen by a factor of three, to ... Read more
Related support groups: Pain, Suboxone, Methadone, Oxycodone, Percocet, OxyContin, Hydrocodone, Vicodin, Morphine, Norco, Fentanyl, Lortab, Subutex, Opana, Codeine
Headaches Take Soldiers Away From War
Posted 28 Oct 2011 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, Oct. 28 – Headaches are a leading reason for medical evacuation of U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan and for the falling number of active-duty troops in those countries, a new study says. Neurological illness is one of the top three causes of non-combat-related loss of unit strength among U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and headaches are the most common neurological problem, according to the Johns Hopkins-led team of researchers. Post-concussion headaches and migraines are the most common forms of headache requiring evacuation, and physical trauma was the cause of nearly half of the debilitating headaches. Only one-third of troops who are sent home because of headaches return to duty in either place, the researchers found. They reviewed the medical records of all 985 military personnel who were medically evacuated from Iraq and Afghanistan between 2004 and 2009 with a ... Read more
Related support groups: Methadone, Oxycodone, Headache, OxyContin, Hydrocodone, Morphine, Fentanyl, Subutex, Opana, Codeine, Dilaudid, Opana ER, Roxicodone, MS Contin, Nucynta