Opioid

Opioids affect thousands of Americans every year, abuse and addiction play a key role in the now growing opioid epidemic. Politics have started to target the aspect and details of what opioid addiction has done to the United States. They had to first notice exactly what and how opioids are affecting Americans. Secondly, they have to identify how Americans are receiving such a great supply of opioids. Finally, it is the government’s responsibility to regulate and modify laws restricting the use and receivement of opioids. With these political attributes, the government could find a stable and suitable solution to opioid addiction. Opioids are although vital, are killing thousands of Americans every year. The United States Department of Health…

Opioids No Better Than Ibuprofen for Chronic Pain In the article it talks about opioids and how opioids may reduce pain but has more of a risk benefactor when taking them. When taking drugs such as, Acetaminophen, Ibuprofen, and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs they can reduce pain without the risk of accidental death and addiction. Opioids effect people’s daily life’s when doing their daily activities. Some of those activities can be walking working, sleeping and enjoying life.…

The scientific community has recognized an opioid epidemic that has resulted from the wide use of opioids to treat postoperative pain (Reddy, 2006). Patients treated with opioids for postsurgical pain often develop a lethal addiction to those painkillers. Victims will often seek out more painkillers, prescription opioids, or illegal drugs to compensate their addiction. As a result, 2.1 million people are suffering from complications related to the prescription of opioid analgesics including…

(Association, "Nurse's Role in Addressing Nation's Opioid Crisis "). As nurses, confronting this crisis by using the resources available will increase our education, knowledge, skills and abilities. Resources provided and supported by the ANA include prescriber education and training, deterrent formulations and increasing access to opioid antagonist such as naloxone. “The ANA believes that the current crisis calls for additional support and focus on prescriber education to prepare practitioners…

If you take prescription opioids, you may have experienced withdrawal symptoms at some point—perhaps when you forgot to take a scheduled dose of medication. Opioid withdrawal is highly unpleasant, and for some people it feels intolerable. Symptoms: Anxiety, pain, shakiness, nausea, achiness. If you experience withdrawal symptoms, this does not meant that you cannot get off opioids, rather that your opioid level was dropped too quickly and your body was surprised by the lack of medication. The…

Across the United States, opioid addiction - and overdose deaths - has increased exponentially. With this in mind, it is extremely important that citizens today keep up to date with the drug dilemma that has rocked our country to the very core. It’s a nationwide epidemic, and without proper education on the subject, the population as a whole - especially teens whose minds aren’t fully developed - may go on to use drugs without knowing truly how dangerous they are. For instance, one very…

The chronic use of opioids can lead to the development of a hyperalgesia, which is a syndrome in which sensitivity to pain is increased. It also slows a person's physical movements and causes a loss of coordination.(drugabuse.com) The effects opioids have on the immune system can cause responses that increase susceptibility to infection. This means the immune system is weakened which makes it easier to become sickly. The immune system is important as it is needed to keep the body strong and…

Great post! I always learned a lot from reading your discussion. Opioid analgesics are usually a part of pharmacologic treatment for patients living with chronic pain. What do you think are the long-term benefits of using this particular medication for these patients? An opioid is a kind of analgesic medicine that relieves moderate to severe pain. It is very prevalent due to its effectiveness, and it has been used to manage acute to a chronic type of pain. However, treating chronic pain with…

required while considering the effects of long-term opioid use. Health care providers must be considerate of the weaning process and monitoring patients to make sure addiction does not occur, especially in patients with a history of substance abuse. Unfortunately, opioid abuse and related deaths are at an all-time high, so pain management is a much more challenging facet of the care of these patients. According to the CDC, in the last fifteen years, the number of deaths linked to opioid overdose…

In the recent years there has been an increase in the use of Opioids. I would not have realized how big the drug epidemic was if I had not taken the Addiction and Substance Abuse weekend intensive here at the School of Social Work. Throughout the three-day weekend we learned about many different addictions, but one day focused on drug courts and substance abuse and I knew I wanted to learn more. I choose to focus on prescription drugs, mainly opioids, because of how readily available these drug…