Pain

In a perfect world, doctors would be able to identify patients who are prone to opioid addiction and prescribe them non-opioid painkillers that wouldn’t lead to dependence. For years, researchers have been trying to advance care to this point by looking for genes that contribute to addiction. There are currently a number of potential candidates,…

What is opioid-induced hyperalgesia? Opioid-induced hyperalgesia is the occurrence of increased pain sensitivity in response to opioid administration. In other words, taking opioids in excess and/or for a long period of time has been known to lower the individual’s pain threshold so pain seems worse even if the opioid dose is increased. This phenomenon is…

The increased access to and overuse of painkillers seen in today’s opioid epidemic was the result of past drug policy changes. In the late 1990s, the laws governing the prescription of opioids became relaxed, giving access to populations besides cancer patients with chronic pain. In 2000, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations introduced…

Probuphine is the first buprenorphine implant for treatment of opioid dependence. It supplies patients with a constant, low-level dose of buprenorphine for six months at a time and is designed to improve patient compliance and outcomes.   What is buprenorphine? Buprenorphine is a drug meant to help relieve cravings during opioid maintenance therapy and heroin…

Non-medical prescription opioid use is a major public health problem. In 2011, 5.1 million people in the United States were using opioids, 4.5 million of whom were using for non-medical purposes and 620,000 of whom were using heroin. 2.2 million of those using opioids were considered clinically dependent. 1.8 million of these dependent individuals were…

Panic and confusion about the opioid endemic are causing the rapid spread of misinformation throughout the United States. Here we debunk some of the most common misconceptions about opioid abuse, especially as it relates to chronic pain.   1. “Addiction” is the same as “physical dependence” or “tolerance.” Addiction is a disease made up of…

The perception of pain is a complex issue that has prompted a wide variety of research investigations. In light of the new, stricter opioid guidelines, and because there is no way to objectively rank pain at this time, healthcare professionals are prescribing opioids conservatively and sometimes to a fault. Anti-opioid campaigns have unfortunately shifted the…

Fatal drug overdose rates are on the rise, and synthetic opioid “fentanyl” is partially to blame.   What is Fentanyl? Fentanyl is a highly potent opioid analgesic and anesthetic, known commercially as Sublimaze, Durogesic, Duragesic, Fentanyl citrate, PriCara, Lazanda, Nasalfent, Subsys, or Actavis. It is a full, mu-opioid receptor agonist, which means that the drug…

Holistic lifestyle changes such as diet, exercise, meditation, etc., have been shown to improve health and sometimes even reverse certain disorders. As opioid overdoses and fatalities become more commonplace, physicians and patients alike are turning to these alternative/integrative solutions for their medical problems. This is an important shift for mainstream medicine, as the focus has…

Individuals with chronic pain are increasingly demanding alternative/integrative treatments and attempting to avoid opioids when possible. While opioids can be great for short-term use, their long-term potential for addiction is concerning and a major contributing factor in the current opioid crisis. Researchers at the University of Texas at Arlington are working on a new electronic…