Addiction Medicine: The Birth of a New Discipline JAMA Internal Medicine Substance use is highly prevalent, a substantial cause of morbidity and mortality and accounts for over $500 billion in economic costs in the United States annually. The 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) reported that 32% binge drink and nearly 7% reported heavy drinking over the past 30 days. With these alarming figures and more, it seems clear that the path has been paved for addiction medicine to become an integrated part of mainstream medicine.
Sierra Tucson, an international leader in treating co-occurring disorders, offers comprehensive neuropsychiatric treatment programs for Addictions, Eating Recovery, Mood Disorders, Pain Management, and Trauma/PTSD. A member of CRC Health Group, Sierra Tucson is dually Accredited by The Joint Commission. Celebrating 30 years of “Compassionate Care, Clinical Excellence.”
Cocaine and Cognition: A Systematic Quantitative Review Journal of Addiction Medicine (free ASAM member resource) The results of this review suggest significant impairment across multiple cognitive domains in cocaine abusers, and that some of these deficits may be partially masked by the residual or acute withdrawal effects of cocaine. Cognitive dysfunctions remain stable during the first months of abstinence and may abate after five months of sobriety...
A Case Discussion: Managing Acute and Chronic Pain in Patients on Medication Assisted Treatment PCSS – MAT The appropriate treatment of acute pain in patients on methadone and buprenorphine includes continuing the patient’s baseline opioid requirements to avoid increased pain sensitivity associated with opioid withdrawal. These patients are also at risk of cross-tolerance to opioid analgesics and therefore adequate pain control will often necessitate higher opioid doses at shorter dosing intervals. Various treatment options will be discussed in this webinar for both outpatient and inpatient acute pain management.
Medicaid Bulletin on Medication Assisted Treatment for Substance Use Disorders Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services Nearly 12 percent of Medicaid beneficiaries over 18 have an SUD. The purpose of this Bulletin is to highlight the use of FDA-approved medications in combination with evidence-based behavioral therapies, commonly referred to as "Medication Assisted Treatment" (MAT), to help persons with SUDs recover in a safe and cost-effective manner.
Got Drugs? September 27 is National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day U.S. Office of Diversion Control The National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day aims to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs, while also educating the general public about the potential for abuse of medications. Log onto the website and learn how to help your patients dispose of their unused prescriptions properly.
Abuse and Diversion of Buprenorphine Sublingual Tablets and Film Annals of Family Medicine Interventions before and after training are needed to increase the number of physicians who offer buprenorphine for treatment of addiction. Targeting physicians in clinics that agree in advance to institute services, coupled with technical assistance after they have completed their training, their clinical teams, and their administrations is likely to help more physicians become active providers of this highly effective outpatient treatment.
Barriers to Primary Care Physicians Prescribing Buprenorphine Drug and Alcohol Dependence Deficits in behavioral inhibitory control are attracting increasing attention as a factor behind the development and maintenance of substance dependence. However, evidence for such a deficit is varied in the literature. Here, the authors synthesized published results to determine whether inhibitory ability is reliably impaired in substance users compared to controls.
Turkey: Addicted Patients Seeking Help Increase Fivefold in 5 Years Today’s Zaman In 2004, there were fewer than 40,000 applications to the Alcohol and Substance Abuse Therapy and Educational Center (AMATEM), but by the end of 2012 there were over 227,000...
Abuse and Misuse of Antidepressants Substance Abuse and Rehabilitation The majority of individuals prescribed antidepressants do not misuse the medication. However, certain classes of antidepressants do carry abuse potential. Physicians should include antidepressants when screening for risky prescription medication use. When antidepressant misuse is detected, a thoughtful treatment plan, including referral to an addiction specialist, should be developed and implemented.
Drug Addiction, Overdoses, and a Very Brief History of Heroin The Independent UK Rarely have public sympathies towards an individual changed quite so dramatically as when heroin was ruled to be a "likely cause" of Peaches Geldof's death at her preliminary inquest in April. This led many to question why a millionaire mother-of-two with a self-professed “perfect life” and every chance at a successful future had turned to the Class A drug...
Nf1 Regulates Alcohol Dependence-Associated Excessive Drinking and GABA Release in the Central Amygdala in Mice, and is Associated with Alcohol Dependence in Humans Biological Psychiatry In this translational investigation, the authors found that Nf1 activity regulates excessive drinking and basal and ethanol-stimulated GABA release in the mouse central amygdala. They also found that genetic variation in NF1 may confer an inherent susceptibility to the transition from non-dependent to dependent drinking in humans.
ASAM Pleased to Support AMERSA Conference AMERSA This year marks the 38th annual conference of the Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse (AMERSA). The meeting will take place in San Francisco, November 6 – 9. Attendees can look forward to scientific sessions, workshops and lively discussions.
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The views and positions of any content published in ASAM Weekly are not necessarily endorsed by ASAM nor a reflection of ASAM's beliefs and policies. The features are presented as a summary of the contemporary issues being represented and expressed in scientific, governmental, commercial, and media sources across the specialty field of addiction medicine. Contact ASAM Weekly with any comments or feedback.