All articles tagged with #opioids
Your age, genetics, hair color, and substance use can affect how much anesthesia you’ll need during and after surgery, with redheads potentially requiring more anesthesia due to genetic variants.
Global research shows minority ethnic patients are routinely undervalued and undertreated for pain from birth to end of life, across emergency care, maternity, chronic pain, cancer, and palliative settings. Studies consistently find minority children receive less recognition of pain and fewer opioids, Black women face bias in childbirth, and minority cancer patients receive lower opioid prescriptions and doses, contributing to worse pain control and outcomes.
In north Minneapolis, a community-led harm-reduction network anchored by NorthPoint Health & Wellness Center has expanded naloxone access, syringe services, and outreach, contributing to a drop in opioid-related ER visits in the 55411 ZIP code since 2021. While overdose deaths remain higher than statewide averages, local advocates credit ground-level outreach, Safe Station services, and a new coalition of community organizations with improving prevention and treatment access for residents, including efforts to address racial and income disparities.
An experimental fentanyl vaccine developed by ARMR Sciences showed promising results in an early human trial, marking the first fentanyl vaccine tested in people and offering potential to prevent overdoses and aid addiction treatment if effectiveness is confirmed in larger studies.
Laboratory analysis of a gas-station kratom pill revealed a potent, unlisted dose of 7-OH, an opioid-like chemical marketed as kratom and sold in gummies, drinks and even ice cream. The FDA says 7-OH could be the next wave of the opioid epidemic; CDC data link kratom to rising hospitalizations and deaths, especially when mixed with alcohol or other drugs. Because many products don’t disclose 7-OH on labels, consumers may not know what they’re taking. While some advocates push bans on 7-OH, others call for tighter labeling and professional guidance rather than outright prohibition.
A BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine review analyzed 19 randomized trials (6,506 participants) and found tramadol provides only modest, likely non-meaningful relief for chronic pain while doubling the risk of harm versus placebo—predominantly heart-related events—with common side effects such as nausea, dizziness, and constipation. Many included studies carried biases that may overstate benefits and understate harms; a questionable signal for cancer risk was noted due to short follow-up. Overall, the potential harms appear to outweigh the limited benefits, underscoring a need to rethink tramadol’s role in chronic-pain care amid broader opioid concerns.
A pediatric journal admitted that 138 published case reports were fictional, created under a confidentiality program to protect patients; at least 61 of these cases have been cited as fact in other journals, prompting corrections, scrutiny of potential retractions, and concern over how misinformation spread, including the controversial 'baby boy blue' opioid-in-breast milk case. Editors say future reports will clearly label cases as fictional, but copies and citations in databases like PubMed Central and Semantic Scholar have already propagated the error.
A sweeping analysis of 59 systematic reviews across more than 50 acute-pain conditions finds opioids provide only modest, short‑term relief for some cases and little or no benefit for others, while raising risks of side effects and misuse; the study calls for safer alternatives and careful, limited prescribing rather than using opioids as the default treatment for acute pain.
The death of Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay is under federal investigation by the FBI and DEA, examining the circumstances of his May death at the Beverly Hills Hotel and the involvement of a California addiction specialist who treated him with opioids and ketamine; the death certificate cites cardiac arrest due to pneumonia with no autopsy, and the probe is in its early stages while the Colts say they have not been contacted by authorities.
The Trump administration terminated about 2,800 discretionary SAMHSA grants worth roughly $1.9 billion as of Jan. 13, aimed at realigning the agency’s portfolio toward innovative programs; the cuts threaten access to mental health and addiction services, complicate 2026 funding negotiations, and come amid SAMHSA staffing declines, with potential funding gaps if Congress does not act before Jan. 30.
A preclinical CNS-targeted gene therapy dampens pain signals in specific brain circuits to relieve chronic pain while avoiding the brain reward pathways tied to addiction, using AI-guided imaging and animal models, with an off switch for long-lasting relief and moving toward clinical trials to help the roughly 50 million Americans affected by chronic pain.
A comprehensive review finds that tramadol provides only modest pain relief for chronic pain but carries significant risks, including heart problems and increased adverse events, suggesting its benefits may not outweigh the harms and prompting a reevaluation of its widespread use.
A comprehensive review finds that tramadol provides only minimal relief for chronic pain and is associated with increased risks of serious side effects, including heart problems and potential cancer, suggesting its widespread use should be reconsidered due to its limited benefits and significant harms.
Scientists at USF Health have discovered new ways opioid receptors can function, potentially leading to pain medications that provide effective relief without the dangerous side effects like respiratory depression, by favoring a reverse signaling pathway. This research could pave the way for safer, non-addictive pain treatments and improve understanding of receptor mechanisms.
A comprehensive review suggests that tramadol, a widely prescribed opioid for chronic pain, offers only modest pain relief and poses significant health risks, including heart problems and increased cancer risk, leading experts to recommend minimizing its use due to the potential harms outweighing the benefits.