A Patch for Prevention?
I can imagine some users — not all, but more than a few — will make use of the patch to facilitate further unaccompanied fentanyl use, confident now that they won’t inadvertently overdose. And being surprised when they did.
In the News: Border Walls?
Battling an epidemic requires considerable cross-state cooperation and coordination-- something that's never easy, even with strong Federal support.
Appearing in several news stories this week: a tiny patch that, when worn by someone using fentanyl, can potentially prevent a fatal overdose.
How, we ask?
We’ll let the researchers at Virginia Tech explain: The patch contains “…121 microscopic needles (long enough) to reach the fluid just beneath the skin. When pressed into place, the needles penetrate only far enough to access that fluid while causing minimal tissue damage.”
“Inside the patch are porous silica nanoparticles loaded with naloxone… The openings of those nanoparticles are covered with fentanyl-sensitive molecular gates… When fentanyl reaches the patch, it causes the gates to open, allowing naloxone to be released into the body. Higher fentanyl concentrations trigger the release of more medication. Because only some of the pores open during each response, the patch retains naloxone that can be released during future fentanyl exposure."
That’s just amazing technology. As the lead...
How, we ask?
We’ll let the researchers at Virginia Tech explain: The patch contains “…121 microscopic needles (long enough) to reach the fluid just beneath the skin. When pressed into place, the needles penetrate only far enough to access that fluid while causing minimal tissue damage.”
“Inside the patch are porous silica nanoparticles loaded with naloxone… The openings of those nanoparticles are covered with fentanyl-sensitive molecular gates… When fentanyl reaches the patch, it causes the gates to open, allowing naloxone to be released into the body. Higher fentanyl concentrations trigger the release of more medication. Because only some of the pores open during each response, the patch retains naloxone that can be released during future fentanyl exposure."
That’s just amazing technology. As the lead...
- Thinking About Addiction
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A Patch for Prevention?
I can imagine some users — not all, but more than a few — will make use of the patch to facilitate further unaccompanied fentanyl use, confident now that they won’t inadvertently overdose. And being surprised when they did.
Those Troubling OD Statistics
In recent months, samples have been found with as much as 20% fentanyl content. It’s easy to see how this could increase both the total number of overdoses, and the percentage of victims who did not survive.
An Inside Look at Drug Court
Even today, the estimated cost for keeping someone under drug court supervision is in the range of $2500 to $4000 a year. Compare that to estimates of $20,000 to as high as $50,000 (in some expensive states), simply to maintain someone in a cell for the same period.
- Resources About
- Addiction
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AI Screening for OUD
My guess: Superior nagging by the AI, in the form of alerts and reminders, resulted in better physician follow through.
The Changing Face of CHS
CHS may not be diagnosed, however, because heavy users of cannabis tend to minimize that when questioned by the doctor.
RFKJr. and the Pouch
“Pouch” nicotine is a synthetic form of the drug that has been enhanced for rapid absorption and speedy delivery to the brain — changes that render it far more addictive.
What We Can Learn from Estonia
...the situation has improved, mostly because of renewed efforts on the demand side. Estonia adopted harm reduction strategies used effectively in other countries, such as take-home naloxone; ready access to MAT; and efforts to destigmatize drug use and drug users.
The Storytellers
One young man explained that he avoided speaker meetings because the “drunkalogues” he heard triggered in him an awful craving for a drink.
AI Screening for OUD
My guess: Superior nagging by the AI, in the form of alerts and reminders, resulted in better physician follow through.
- Resources For
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A Young Gambler’s story
It’s a common misconception, that somehow repeated failures precede eventual success. They don’t.
Rage-baited
From a counseling standpoint, it’s a time when we ought to be advising patients to restrict their social media activity, at the very least to selected forums and sites that support recovery goals
A Young Gambler’s story
It’s a common misconception, that somehow repeated failures precede eventual success. They don’t.
Is This Recovery?
...there are other folks out there like these— pretending to sobriety yet still secretly using, and hoping to avoid the sort of trouble that haunted them in the past.
Officers in the House
...with law enforcement agencies taking on vastly different roles, planning and practicing our response appears more important than in the past.
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A Novel Approach
...the author, who grew up in and around the region, chose to use its earnings to found Higher Ground, a home for recovering women.
A Novel Approach
...the author, who grew up in and around the region, chose to use its earnings to found Higher Ground, a home for recovering women.
Diagnosing Cannabis Use Disorder: Updated
It certainly makes sense that if you suffer from a major mental illness, you should stay away from pot.
Video: Practical Advice on Prescription Painkiller Problems
People have abused opiates for 5,000 years. As much as medicine depends on them, they've always created problems for a percentage of users.
