Opioid

Opioids have been used in pharmaceutical drugs as a painkiller. Opioids are in medications like morphine, hydrocodone and oxycodone, which have been praised for their effectiveness for patients suffering extreme pain However, there have been downsides to using opioids in drugs. The use of opioids has lead to addictions and to deaths in the United States. After people take opioids as a painkiller, they can become addicted to the drug. This addiction they get can lead them deeper into addiction or…

assessment scales were popularized as a “5th vital sign.” In the same decade, opioid painkillers, such as OxyContin, began to be marketed as a non-addictive alternative to heavy narcotics. The change in this approach toward understanding pain in medical practice, coupled with the rescheduling of prescription opioids, led Americans to a more comfortable relationship with pain medications. Two decades later, however, opioid related overdoses have soared. Their questionable medical efficacy and…

This literature review examined the existing literature on opioid dependence treatment options. There is not one single way to treat opioid dependence, an array of treatment options needs to be available for individuals with opioid dependence. For this reason much of the research indicates that several modes of treatment should be used with opioid dependent individuals, these include: crisis intervention, detox services, agonist maintenance, relapse prevention education and psycho-social…

What is an Opioid? “Drugs are refined from or are synthetic versions of the opium poppy’s active ingredients” (Inaba/Power Point). Typically, opioids contain, opium, morphine, codeine, heroin and others. Codeine (also known as cough syrup, lean or purple drank), is an example of an opioid. Lean is a drink that rappers have made popular. This gives me the idea that those who abuse this drug are just following along with the trend. What I mean by following the trend is, they decide to use it…

nonmedical use” (p.5). This is a huge problem, both opioid diversion and opioid misuse. Keeping this in mind the government and the companies have implemented strategies to minimize the risk associated with…

“The opioid epidemic has recently been described as the largest public health crisis to hit the U.S. since the AIDS epidemic.” (Dyjack 3) This quote by executive director of the National Association of County and City Health Officials, David Dyjack, in an article for the Journal of Environmental Health, explains the extreme magnitude of the opioid epidemic currently oppressing the United States. Additionally, an article published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explained…

much talk about the Opioid abuse problems in America. According to Anonymous (2015), as of 2010, opioid-related deaths accounted for 60% of all overdoses and drug overdose deaths outnumbered motor vehicle deaths in 2009. Programs are being started to get naloxone kits into the hands of lay people to help prevent death due to an opioid overdose. The providers in the state of Virginia, where I live and practice, are starting to search national registries before prescribing opioids to patients.…

Opioids can cause respiratory depression that can progress to death and this can occur in multiple ways. First, opioids are known to act directly on the medulla and pons, which are critical areas for respiration specifically involved in rhythm generation (Pattison, 2008). Additionally, Opioids effect in the brainstem appears to be linked to their ability to interfere with chemoreception in key respiratory…

When someone goes to the doctor because they are in pain doctors give them opioids also called opiates and narcotics which is a type of pain medication. People that take opioids for a long period of time become dependent on them or addicted and in the long run not good for people due to their side effects. Also, the risk of overdose higher with opioids. There need to be stricter regulations for doctors being able to prescribe these kinds of drugs long term due to that many patients that are…

When people think of drug abuse in America they usually think of a heroin addict stabbing a needle into their arm, but Americans often tend to overlook the opioid epidemic’s place in suburban atmospheres. St. Louis County ranks nearly four times the national average for heroin related deaths in the country, and at the center of this is Kirkwood. From the outside Kirkwood looks to be the perfectly stereotypical suburban neighborhood. However, this is not necessarily true. Kirkwood High School has…