Category: From Newswise – Addiction

One of the nation’s largest research projects aimed at measuring the outcomes of medication-assisted recovery (MAR) housing for opioid-use disorder will launch this spring, led by harm reduction specialists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) in partnership with the Health and Human Services Commission’s Texas Targeted Opioid Response Program (TTOR).

A new review article published in the March issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (JAAOS) examines the variability that exists in opioid prescribing patterns across the United States for many common orthopaedic procedures. While the Northeast and Midwest were most impacted by the opioid epidemic, the study found that patients in the West and South consistently were given prescriptions at or greater than the national medians. These regional and national variations in opioid prescribing practices can serve as a benchmark for orthopaedic surgeons to help develop guidelines to reduce excess postoperative opioid prescriptions.

The drug buprenorphine is an effective treatment for opioid use disorder, but many who misuse opioids also take benzodiazepines — drugs that treat anxiety and similar conditions. Many treatment centers hesitate to treat patients addicted to opioids who also take benzodiazepines. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis studied overdose risk in people taking buprenorphine and found that the drug lowered risk, even in people taking benzodiazepines.

In March and April 2020, mental health claim lines for individuals aged 13-18, as a percentage of all medical claim lines, approximately doubled over the same months in the previous year.

In a study at Penn researchers found that Pennsylvania’s financial incentive policy encouraged hospitals to enact rapid changes to support treatment for opioid use disorder for patients visiting the ED, and evaluates the efficacy of the Opioid Hospital Quality Improvement Program.

IU study finds unintended and negative consequences of policies designed to reduce the supply of opioids in the population for overdose.

February Issue of the American Journal of Public Health Special Section focuses on the impact of E-Cigarettes.

Irvine, Calif., Feb. 1, 2021 — Researchers from the University of California, Irvine and the University of Minnesota have found that an enriched diet and companionship can reduce pain in mice with sickle cell disease by increasing serotonin. They also discovered that duloxetine, an antidepressant that boosts serotonin levels, could be an alternative to opioids in treating chronic pain.

Western Carolina University researchers find a disproportionate number of inmates with violent offenses suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, panic disorder and alcohol use disorder, and published their findings in the Journal of Criminal Psychology.