People with opioid addiction or opioid abuse have increased chances of dying when they also have co-existing problems with alcohol use disorder or a personality disorder, according to recent findings from a team of British researchers. Broadly speaking, people affected by opioid use disorder (diagnosable opioid abuse and/or addiction) have higher chances of dying prematurely…
A new study has investigated the continuing opioid abuse crisis—largely fuelled by prescription painkillers—and has suggested that overprescribing and addiction are driving overdose deaths rather than non-medical abuse. The opioid problem has been growing for some time across the U.S., with overdose rates more than doubling between 1999 and 2013 and with just over half…
New evidence from a group of American researchers points to drastically increased risks for prescription opioid addiction in people who already have a history of substance abuse related to the consumption of non-opioid substances. Prescription opioid addiction is a pressing and fairly widespread problem in American society. In a study published in February 2015 in…
The epidemic of prescription painkiller abuse has taken its toll on millions of lives. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of people overdosing on these drugs has tripled over the last two decades. Millions of people abuse and get hooked on prescription drugs and online pharmacies are fueling their habit.…
According to a new survey, almost 40 percent of Massachusetts adults know someone who has abused prescription painkillers in the past five years, and almost three-quarters say that heroin abuse is an extremely or very serious problem in the state. The rise in abuse of prescription opioids has been called an epidemic, and it is…
New findings from an American research team indicate that even short-term use of prescription opioid medications during pregnancy can lead to neonatal abstinence syndrome, a condition normally associated with illicit/illegal opioid drug consumption.
Prescription opioid abuse is the collective term for both the misuse of opioid medications by legitimate prescription recipients and any form of opioid medication use by people without a legitimate prescription. In the U.S., people participate in this form of prescription drug abuse fairly often. In a study published in May 2014 in The American…
America’s rapid explosion of prescription painkiller abuse has put health officials across the country on the defensive. Nowhere is this truer than in Tennessee, where a virtual epidemic of addiction is stressing the state’s health care system to the breaking point.
Millions of people across the U.S. are affected by health conditions that trigger symptoms of ongoing, chronic pain. A number of opioid-based medications are commonly used to help people dealing with chronic pain; however, use of these medications (especially outside of an authorized context) inherently comes with significant risks for drug abuse and addiction. In…
Prescription drug abuse is a common phenomenon throughout much of the U.S. However, the specific rates of abuse can vary considerably between individual states. In a report published in July 2014, researchers from Quest Diagnostics examined the rates of prescription medication abuse across America and looked for underlying reasons that could explain why some states…