Articles: opioid.
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Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy · Feb 2019
Higher doses of naloxone are needed in the synthetic opiod era.
There has been a dramatic increase of deaths due to illicit fentanyl. We examined the pharmacology of fentanyl and reviewed data on the number of repeat doses of naloxone used to treat fentanyl overdoses. ⋯ A rapid competition is required by naloxone to out-compete large numbers of opioid receptors occupied by fentanyl in the CNS. Taken together, we propose that higher doses of naloxone are needed to combat the new era of overdoses due to the more potent synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.
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Harm reduction journal · Feb 2019
Sociodemographic characteristics of patients with children in a methadone maintenance program: a cross-sectional study.
Ever-increasing numbers of opioid use disorder (OUD) in Canada has created the recent opioid crisis. One common treatment for OUD is methadone maintenance treatment (MMT). Various factors, including being a parent which entails specific stressors, may increase susceptibility to negative treatment outcomes. This study aims to investigate differences between OUD patients with and without children in socio-demographic and clinical outcomes. ⋯ Our results demonstrate social and demographic differences between parents and non-parents receiving MMT. These differences highlight the need to understand necessary additional support for parents such as child support and other necessary therapies.
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Overuse of opioids has become a health crisis in the United States and Canada. Opioid prescribing practices have subsequently come under scrutiny, with limited study regarding prescribing patterns of dentists. ⋯ Dental opioid stewardship can be encouraged through an enhanced regulatory monitoring program with local review to guide efforts to further improve opioid prescribing. Continued efforts are warranted to prescribe smaller quantities and for greater avoidance of opioid use for dental pain.