Opioids

Tramadol Linked to Low Blood Sugar

Painkiller Tramadol Linked to Low Blood Sugar Study finds the drug may be riskier than expected By Steven Reinberg HealthDay Reporter MONDAY, Dec. 8, 2014 (HealthDay News) — The narcotic painkiller tramadol (Ultram) seems to be associated with an increased risk of dangerously low blood sugar, Canadian researchers report. Tramadol is a narcotic drug whose […]

A Partnered Approach to Opioid Management, Guideline Concordant Care and the Stepped Care Model of Pain Management

J Gen Intern Med. 2014 Oct 30. [Epub ahead of print] A Partnered Approach to Opioid Management, Guideline Concordant Care and the Stepped Care Model of Pain Management. Dorflinger L, Moore B, Goulet J, Becker W, Heapy AA, Sellinger JJ, Kerns RD. Abstract BACKGROUND: Pain is the most common presenting problem in primary care. Opioid […]

American Academy of Neurology Warns Against Opioids in Chronic Noncancer Pain

By Kristina Fiore, Staff Writer, MedPage Today Published: Sep 29, 2014 Download Full Text Article Action Points A position paper from the American Academy of Neurology suggests that the risks for chronic opioid therapy for some chronic conditions such as headache, fibromyalgia, and chronic low back pain likely outweigh the benefits. It also suggests that […]

For Back Pain or Headache, Painkillers Do More Harm than Good

Alice Park @aliceparkny Sept. 29, 2014 Story Source;  TIME For the first time, a major medical organization takes a stand on rampant overuse of opioids for treating back pain, headaches and migraines Powerful painkillers do little to improve patients’ daily functioning, finds the American Academy of Neurology in a new position statement on opioid painkillers […]

Deaths From Narcotic Painkillers Quadrupled in Past Decade: CDC Increases highest among whites, and people between 55 and 64

Deaths From Narcotic Painkillers Quadrupled in Past Decade: CDC Increases highest among whites, and people between 55 and 64 By Steven Reinberg HealthDay Reporter Story Source TUESDAY, Sept. 16, 2014 (HealthDay News) — The number of Americans dying from accidental overdoses of narcotic painkillers jumped significantly from 1999 to 2011, federal health officials reported Tuesday. […]

Opioid, Heroin Deaths Continue to Climb

Published: Jul 1, 2014 By John Fauber, Reporter, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel/MedPage Today; Kristina Fiore , Staff Writer, MedPage Today Story Source   Overdose deaths from both prescription opioids and heroin continued to rise in 2011, the most recent year for which data were available, according to the CDC. While prescription opioid deaths followed a more […]

Surge in Prescriptions for Opioid Painkillers for Pregnant Women

The New York Times By CATHERINE SAINT LOUIS APRIL 13, 2014 Full Story Doctors are prescribing opioid painkillers to pregnant women in astonishing numbers, new research shows, despite the fact that risks to the developing fetus are largely unknown. Of 1.1 million pregnant women enrolled in Medicaid nationally, nearly 23 percent filled an opioid prescription in […]

Chronic Pain and Use of Opioids

Research · March 14, 2014 Full Story Journal Reference TAKE-HOME MESSAGE In this cohort study, 85% of over 14,000 patients who reported chronic nonmalignant pain did not use opioids. Occasional and persistent use was reported in 12% and 3% of patients, respectively. In addition, about 75% of patients who did use opioids reported that their […]

Top Five Pain Interventions to Avoid

Pauline Anderson January 21, 2014 Full Story In the latest response to the call from the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Foundation for recommendations on the most overused interventions, the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) has issued its list of top 5 tests and therapies that are of questionable usefulness in the field of […]

Do NSAIDs Cause More Deaths Than Opioids?

Practical Pain Management Volume 13, Issue #10 November/December 2013 Full Story:  http://www.practicalpainmanagement.com/treatments/pharmacological/opioids/ask-expert-do-nsaids-cause-more-deaths-opioids Question: I have recently read a lot on Twitter that NSAIDs cause more deaths than opioids. Can you clarify if that is true? Answer: Balancing the benefits of well-controlled pain with the risks of analgesic use is complicated and often challenging for health […]

Drug Therapy for the Treatment of Chronic Nonspecific Low Back Pain

Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Joanne WY Chung, PhD Pain Physician November/December 2013 – Vol 16 Issue 6, 2013;16;E685-E704. BACKGROUND: Low back pain (LBP) is one of the most common health problems in adults. The impact of LBP on the individual can cause loss of health status in the form of symptoms and loss of function […]

Opiates and infection: Another reason to avoid them

Orthopedics Today, November 2013 Javad Parvizi, MD FRCS; Fatih Küçükdurmaz, MD As if the numerous adverse effects of opiates on the human body were not enough, emerging evidence unravels a link between opioids and infection. The link between opioids and infection was noted in the late 1980s during HIV research. Epidemiological studies demonstrated that the […]

Opioid Use Common After Spine Surgery

One year after surgery to relieve back pain, about of third of patients still were using narcotic painkillers, according to a study that raised new concerns about the long-term use of opioids….

Opioids compared to placebo or other treatments for chronic low-back pain

Chaparro LE, et al. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013 Aug 27;8:CD004959. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD004959.pub4. Abstract BACKGROUND: The use of opioids in the long-term management of chronic low-back pain (CLBP) has increased dramatically. Despite this trend, the benefits and risks of these medications remain unclear. This review is an update of a Cochrane review first published in […]

Abusive Prescribing of Controlled Substances — A Pharmacy View

Public health advocates are increasingly focused on illness and deaths caused by inappropriate use of controlled substances — in particular, opioid analgesics. Opioid prescriptions have increased dramatically, by more than 300% between 1999 and 2010.1 This increase has led to substantial iatrogenic disease. Most strikingly, the number of deaths due to overdose in the United States […]

Sharp Rise in Women’s Deaths From Overdose of Painkillers

The New York Times By SABRINA TAVERNISE JULY 2, 2013 PORTSMOUTH, Ohio — Prescription pain pill addiction was originally seen as a man’s problem, a national epidemic that began among workers doing backbreaking labor in the coal mines and factories of Appalachia. But a new analysis of federal data has found that deaths in recent years have […]

Drug overdose deaths spike among middle-aged women

Jul 2 2013, 4:52 PM (ET) By MIKE STOBBE ATLANTA (AP) – Overdose deaths in the U.S. are rising fastest among middle-aged women, and their drug of choice is usually prescription painkillers, the government reported Tuesday. “Mothers, wives, sisters and daughters are dying at rates that we have never seen before,” said Dr. Thomas Frieden, […]

Many Docs Still Don’t Understand Opioid Dependence

Deborah Brauser June 14, 2013 Misperceptions about opioid dependence, including how to screen for and treat the disorder, continue to persist for the public and for many clinicians, new research suggests. An online survey of 1000 adults chosen at random plus 200 primary care physicians who were not addiction certified showed that almost half of […]

Painkillers for Back Pain Linked to Erectile Dysfunction

Marissa Luck May 23, 2013 Long-term use prescription painkillers, known as opioids, have been linked to a number health of problems, and researchers sought to understand the effects the drugs on men with back pain. They analyzed the medical records of more than 11,000 men with back pain and examined how often they received prescriptions […]

Opioid Use Linked to Erectile Dysfunction

Pauline Anderson May 17, 2013 Story Source Medscape.com aking opioids, especially high doses and over several months, is strongly associated with markers for sexual dysfunction, a new study shows. Men with back pain being treated long term with potent opioids were about 50% more likely to fill a prescription for erectile dysfunction (ED) medications or testosterone replacement […]