Tag: News

Opioid Use Quadrupled Among Pregnant Women

The prevalence of opioid use disorder present at a hospital delivery rose from 1.5 per 1,000 deliveries in 1999 to 6.5 per 1,000 in 2014.

Opioid use among pregnant women quadrupled between 1999 and 2014, rising alongside the rate at which opioid use disorder has increased in the general population, according to a new report.

“When something is so broad and affects all populations, we also see it reflected in the pregnant population,” Dr. Elizabeth E. Krans, an assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh, told CNN Health.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published its report on Friday (August 10). The CDC analysis found that nationally, the prevalence of opioid use disorder present at a hospital delivery rose from 1.5 per 1,000 deliveries in 1999 to 6.5 per 1,000 in 2014.

However, in some states the problem was much more prevalent. In Vermont, for example, opioids are a factor in 48.6 out of every 1,000 deliveries.

Data was only available in 28 states, but indicated that opioid use in pregnant populations varies widely. Washington, D.C. had the lowest prevalence in 2014 at just 0.7 deliveries per 1,000, while Vermont had the highest.

The increase in the prevalence of opioids was also uneven: California and Hawaii saw relatively small increases, while Maine, New Mexico, Vermont and West Virginia saw large spikes in the reported use of opioids among pregnant women.

State policies on drug use during pregnancy can affect reporting, since in 23 states and Washington, D.C., using drugs while pregnant is considered child abuse. This might prevent some women from being honest about their drug use.

“Data on the impact of these policies are scarce,” the authors wrote.

“Pregnancy is a really important time. Women are often worried that invested in their own health and the health of their baby, but they’re also fearful of judgment,” Krans said.

Women who are using opioids when they become pregnant are often told to go on medication-assisted treatment throughout their pregnancies, as that is the safest option for mother and baby. “We have effective treatments that are available during pregnancy, and we want to encourage women to seek early care and engage in treatment as soon as possible,” Krans said.

Left untreated, opioid use can lead to a variety of pregnancy complications and negative health effects for the child.

“Opioid use by pregnant women represents a significant public health concern given the association of opioid exposure and adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes, including preterm labor, stillbirth, neonatal abstinence syndrome, and maternal mortality,” the authors wrote.

View the original article at thefix.com

15 August 2018
How Alcoholism Can Affect Communication Even After Sobriety

The voices of people with alcoholism were perceived as “less expressive,” “rougher,” and “more flat” in a new study.

It’s no secret that alcoholism and other substance use disorders can take a huge toll on communication. People who are addicted have the reputation of being unreliable, forgetful or unorganized in their communication.

However, a new study suggests that alcoholism may physically change a person’s ability to communicate via speech, and that those changes last even after a person gets sober.

A new study, published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, found that people who were alcoholics have trouble using pitch to communicate the emotion behind their statements.

For the study, people in recovery were recorded saying a sentence, as were people in a control group who did not have a history of alcoholism. The recordings were then played for a group of volunteers. The listeners had more trouble distinguishing the intended emotion in the recordings by people with alcoholism.

In addition, the voices of people with alcoholism were perceived as “less expressive,” “rougher,” and “more flat.”

This can lead to trouble communicating, since the same words can have vastly different meanings depending on the tone and pitch that they are spoken with.

“These results suggest that emotional communication difficulties can persist long after alcoholics have quit drinking,” the study authors wrote.

In speaking with Healthline, Silke Paulmann, a cognitive sciences professor at the University of Essex and leader of the study, said that there is a physical reason for at least some of the communication difficulties that many people with alcoholism and their loved ones experience.

“Our data clearly indicate that they can modulate pitch, but do so less effectively,” she said to Healthline.

The study did not examine why the changes occur, but Paulmann said that it is likely due to changes either in the vocal chords or in the brain caused by alcoholism. The right side of the brain controls pitch and can be damaged by drinking too much alcohol.

“Heavy drinking has been linked to brain atrophy in the right hemisphere,” she said to Healthline. “We don’t have scans of our participants, but if their brain has been affected by their drinking history, this may explain the differences as well.”

Speech therapy could potentially help people with alcoholism who are in recovery overcome this communication issue. However, Paulmann said that just being aware of the issue, and talking about it with friends and family, can also make a big difference.

“On the receiver’s end, some of the communication problems in families might be less severe if the parties involved understand that it is not indifference that leads to ‘less expressive’ reactions,” she told Healthline.

View the original article at thefix.com

14 August 2018
Treating Teens’ Depression Can Benefit Parents Too

A new study explores how a family member receiving mental health treatment impacts their loved ones.

Depression touches not only the individual—often, it affects the community around them, too.

For teens, parents are often a significant part of this “community,” and can experience depression second-hand. But when a teen receives treatment, the benefits will ripple through the whole family, according to preliminary research presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association on Saturday (August 11).

The study of 325 American teens and their parents—which has yet to be peer-reviewed and published—analyzed data from a larger 2007 study of how teens living with depression responded to antidepressant drug treatment or cognitive behavioral therapy.

The team observed that regardless of which kind of mental health treatment the teens received, the psychological health of the parents improved as well.

It’s easy to guess why this would happen. The official symptoms of depression include irritability, a lack of energy, anxiety, and loss of interest in normal activities. It’s not hard to see how any one of these symptoms could negatively affect the people around the depressed individual.

“It’s possible that the feedback, the control, and the involvement in the treatment may have been beneficial,” said Kelsey Howard, co-author of the research and a doctoral candidate at Northwestern University. “It could be in how the family is interacting with each other: The kid is more pleasant to be around, the kid is making less negative statements, which can affect how other family members think.”

As one writer noted in Psychology Today, “[Families] contribute powerfully to the emotional atmosphere the depressed person inhabits, and so can be agents of recovery.”

Some treatment professionals say the family’s input is necessary to correctly diagnose depression.

S. Nassir Ghaemi, assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard University, says he’ll ask patients seeking an evaluation to bring in a family member. “Then I ask the family to feel free to call me any time the patient is developing mood symptoms of any variety,” he told Psychology Today.

Ghaemi also uses the family to keep the patient on track with medication, if necessary. With the support of family members, the patient can stay on track of taking his or her medication. And if the family is not on board with the treatment plan, Ghaemi teaches patients how to navigate this challenge.

View the original article at thefix.com

14 August 2018
Lisa Marie Presley Discusses Past Addiction Struggles

“I was not happy. The struggle and addiction for me started when I was 45 years old. It wasn’t like it was happening all my life.”

Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis Presley, recently spoke on the Today show about her personal struggles with addiction.

Presley spoke with Jenna Bush Hager at Graceland on the eve of the release of Where No One Stands Alone, a new compilation album of her father’s gospel songs. (She co-produced the album and sings a posthumous duet with her father on the title song.)

Lisa Marie, who is now 50, said that her struggles with addiction began five years ago.

“I was not happy,” she said. “And by the way, the struggle and addiction for me started when I was 45 years old. It wasn’t like it was happening all my life. I have a therapist and she was like, ‘You’re a miracle. I don’t know how you’re still alive.’”

In a 2003 interview with Paper magazine, Lisa Marie credited Scientology for getting her clean after one last bender.

“I was on a 72-hour bender,” she said. “Cocaine, sedatives, pot and drinking—all at the same time. I never got my hands on heroin, but it’s not like I wouldn’t have taken it. I just couldn’t be sober. I don’t know how I lived through it.”

In 2016, Us Weekly reported that Presley checked into a high-end rehab for an addiction to painkillers.

Along with her father’s iconic music career, Elvis was also legendary for his own struggles with addiction. Lisa Marie was nine years old when her father died of a heart attack on August 15, 1977 at the age of 42.

Elvis’s death was a big shock at the time, and is still a strong cautionary tale against the excesses of fame and prescription drugs. Elvis had a personal doctor, Dr. George Nichopoulos, who came under fire for prescribing too many drugs to the singer, and after several medical board inquires his medical license was permanently suspended in 1995.

According to Biography, the toxicology report from Elvis’s death showed he had high levels of Dilaudid, Quaaludes, Percodan, Demerol, and codeine in his system.

Yet in the depths of her despair, Lisa Marie reached out to the spirit of her father for help. “I’m not perfect, my father wasn’t perfect, no one’s perfect,” she told Today. “It’s what you do with it after you learn and then you try to help others with it.”

When Hager asked what she would ask her father, Lisa Marie said, “I would want to know he’s there. Yeah, it would be pretty much, ‘I could use your help right around now.’”

View the original article at thefix.com

14 August 2018
Ex-Boyfriend of Bethenny Frankel Dies From Apparent Overdose

Dennis Shields appeared on several “Real Housewives of New York” episodes alongside Frankel.

Dennis Shields, who dated the Real Housewives of New York star Bethenny Frankel, was found dead in his apartment in the Trump Tower from what police sources reported as a suspected overdose.

The 51-year-old, who appeared in several episodes of the Bravo reality show, was reported to have asked his assistant to administer the overdose reversal drug Narcan at around 9 a.m. on August 10; the New York Police Department confirmed that they responded to a 911 call that morning in regard to an unconscious male, who was pronounced “deceased on scene” by emergency medical services.

The medical examiner’s office stated that a report on the cause and manner of Shields’ death will be released after completion of an investigation.

Shields was the CEO of the litigation-funding firm LawCash and oversaw several other finance-related companies. He had known Frankel for nearly three decades through her friendship with his wife, Jill Shields, and began dating her after their separation in 2016.

Their relationship traversed on-and-off arcs for several years, which was showcased on Real Housewives, and while the couple was reportedly apart at the time of Shields’ death, a source reported that they remained close.

As both TMZ and the New York Post reported, a spokeperson for the NYPD confirmed that officers responded to a 911 call for an unresponsive male at Shields’ corner apartment on the 42nd floor of Trump Tower at approximately 9:19 a.m. on the 10th.

Sources told TMZ that Shields had asked his assistant to give him a dose of Narcan before slipping into unconsciousness. The medication failed to revive him.

Emergency medical responders reported that Shields was pronounced dead at the scene; though cause of death was not given, sources told TMZ that oxycodone may have been involved in the overdose. According to the New York Times, it is not clear if the drug was prescribed for Shields.

In a statement to People, Shields’ estranged wife, Jill Shields, said, “We are all heartbroken. Dennis was, and will always be, the love of my life. His spirit lives on in our children and our future grandchildren.” She also posted photos of Shields and their four children on her Instagram account.

Frankel also took to Instagram to pay tribute to Shields. She posted a photo of Shields laying beside her dog with the caption, “Rest In Peace my sweet babies who gave me endless unconditional love. #nowandforever.”

View the original article at thefix.com

14 August 2018
Snapchat Dysmorphia: A Growing Trend Among Social Media Users

Snapchat dysmorphia was first identified in a 2017 plastic surgery survey.

Apparently, some people are taking their love of photo filters a bit TOO far. That’s according to a recent paper published in JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery, which describes the emerging phenomenon known as “Snapchat dysmorphia.”

Body dysmorphic disorder is characterized by obsessive thoughts of the flaws in one’s appearance, though these perceived flaws may not be noticeable to others.

Photo filters and retouching tools in smartphone apps like Snapchat and Facetune allow just about anybody to edit away any perceived flaws in their “selfies”— but for some people, this just isn’t enough.

Some doctors say that while previously, cosmetic surgery patients would bring in images of celebrities whose features they want to emulate, these days, patients will try and emulate the “filtered versions” of themselves.

“Most of the time, [patients] want to talk about how they appear in their edited photos. And they are looking to explore options of how to translate that into reality,” Noëlle Sherber, who runs a dermatology and plastic surgery practice in Washington, DC, told Vox.

The term “Snapchat dysmorphia” appears in a paper published in JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery on August 2, based on a trend first identified in the 2017 Annual American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS) survey.

The paper cited a recent study that found that adolescent girls who “manipulated their photos more reported a higher level of concern with their bodies and an overestimation of body shape and weight.” A higher level of body dissatisfaction was also associated with a higher level of engagement on social media.

According to the AAFPRS survey, in 2015, 42% of patients requested surgery to improve their selfies. That number is now 55%.

The paper in JAMA notes that many of the features that appear in retouched selfies are unattainable with cosmetic surgery. This “trend” of “Snapchat dysmorphia” is alarming, the authors say, because it is “blurring the line of reality and fantasy.”

Sherber echoed this point to Vox, “Some of the changes [patients] are making to their faces are not achievable. We can’t do that in real life. And if they really can’t be made to match that, they will be inherently disappointed.”

Rather than cosmetic surgery, the authors of the paper say that behavior indicative of body dysmorphic disorder should be addressed with counseling.

View the original article at thefix.com

14 August 2018
Can Exercise Prevent Cocaine Relapse?

Researchers used animals to model the effects of exercise on addictive behaviors for a new study.

According to researchers, the possibility of a cocaine relapse can be reduced with exercise.

The discovery comes thanks to research at the University of Buffalo led by Panyotis Thanos.

“Cocaine addiction is often characterized by cycles of recovery and relapse, with stress and negative emotions, often caused by withdrawal itself, among the major causes of relapse,” said senior scientist Thanos.

In the study, Thanos and his team used animals to model the effects of exercise on addictive behaviors.

To this end, he and his team observed that test subjects who did regular aerobic exercise (one hour on a treadmill five times a week) were less likely to exhibit “stress-induced cocaine-seeking behaviors.” Not only were they more likely to be drug-free, they also changed the way they responded to stress, both behaviorally and physiologically.

Cocaine addiction causes these behavioral and physiological shifts in response to stress. Thanos’ research found that physical exercise can change the mesolimbic dopamine pathways in the brain. These pathways are the same ones that cocaine acts on, creating the rewarding feeling that makes cocaine so addictive.

Exercise can also help boost mood and cut down on the hormones responsible for stress, which could keep those mental formations that tempt relapse at bay.

There are also the other known benefits to aerobic exercise, including the prevention of heart disease, diabetes, and arthritis, that make regular aerobic exercise worthwhile.

“Our results suggest that regular aerobic exercise could be a useful strategy for relapse prevention, as part of a comprehensive treatment program for recovering cocaine abusers,” explained Thanos. “Further research is necessary to see if these results also hold true for other addictive drugs.”

The use of exercise has helped at least one person: country superstar Tim McGraw. He previously used alcohol to help with pre-show jitters, but in his recovery, replaced that with a long run instead.

“The ritual now is to run,” McGraw explained. “Me and a few of the guys in the band—I do my meet and greet and right after the meet and greet, we take off and run for 4 or 5 miles. It is literally timed so I run straight into the dressing room, get ready and hit the stage.”

View the original article at thefix.com

14 August 2018
New Book "Dopesick" Explores The Opioid Crisis From All Angles

“My goal with this book was not to just show you how we got here and what it’s going to take to get out of it but also to inspire people to care,” says author Beth Macy.

Journalist Beth Macy set out with a mission: to address the opioid epidemic from every possible angle.

In her new book, Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors and the Drug Company that Addicted America, she does that through examining the opioid epidemic from the very beginning to its current state.

According to NPR, Macy begins the book by detailing the story of Jesse, a 19-year-old whose struggles began with pills and ended with heroin. Jesse is one of the many lives taken at the hands of the opioid crisis.

“He was one of these rambunctious kids who rarely napped,” Macy told NPR. “As a little boy, he would fall asleep with toys still in his hands. And early on, they put him on ADHD medication. He also had some football and snowboarding injuries when he was 15 and 16 and was prescribed opioid painkillers then.

“His mother isn’t exactly sure at what point he became hooked, at what point he realized he was dope sick. But he knew he could trade his ADHD medicine for the opioid pills. And one thing led to another. When the pills got harder to get because of doctors cracking down on prescribing, that’s when the heroin started coming in.”

Initially, Macy tells CBS, Jesse’s mother was unaware of the depths her son’s use had gone to.

“She said something else that I heard a lot, which is ‘I thought it was just pills,’ and it had progressed to heroin unbeknownst to her, and he never missed a day at work,” Macy told CBS.

As journalists do, Macy comes at the opioid epidemic from all angles. Her book also details her conversations with a drug dealer named Ronnie Jones, who “ran one of the largest heroin rings in the mid-Atlantic region,” according to NPR.

Jones had tried a few times to recreate his life after spending time in jail, but with little luck.

“Ronnie’s story illustrates how little we do for felons trying to re-enter our society. You know, we don’t make it easy for them to get jobs,” Macy told NPR. “They often come out, and they owe lots of fines. And he tries to go legit. And he ends up—you know, he starts out selling weed again, which he had been selling before. But meanwhile, since he’s been in prison, this opioid thing has exploded. And somebody tells him in the break room of George’s Chicken, hey, man, if you want to make the real money, you need to be bringing heroin in.”

Also in her book, Macy examines the role that Purdue Pharma (the manufacturer of OxyContin) has played in the epidemic. She states that when Purdue introduced OxyContin, it was marketed as being more safe than other painkillers because of its 12-hour time release mechanism.

For the past three years, Macy says, she has been following Google alerts for articles pertaining to the opioid crisis. However, she says, none of them addressed every angle of the crisis as she hoped to.

“Each of them only deal with a little piece of something going on right now,” she tells NPR. “And my goal with this book was not to just show you how we got here and what it’s going to take to get out of it, but also to inspire people to care. And I really hope that that’s what I’ve done.”

View the original article at thefix.com

13 August 2018
FBI Raid Nets 20 Suspected Cartel Traffickers, Nearly A Ton Of Cocaine

Three sprawling federal indictments unsealed last week named 57 defendants snared in the operation—and 35 of them are still on the run.

Twenty alleged Sinaloa Cartel drug traffickers were arrested early Wednesday in a web of raids that netted 850 pounds of meth, nearly 1 ton of cocaine, 93 pounds of heroin and $1.42 million in cash.

Over the course of a three-year investigation involving a slew of government agencies from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to Los Angeles police, investigators uncovered a massive drug-trafficking ring regularly hauling in kilograms of narcotics from south of the border. Law enforcement also seized nearly 50 pounds of cannabis.

Three sprawling federal indictments unsealed last week named 57 defendants snared in the operation—and 35 of them are still on the run. Most are believed to be in Mexico, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

“More than simply seizing large quantities of drugs and money, this investigation was able to identify the top-level, Mexican-based traffickers who directed the transactions, and who thought they were using secure communication devices to commit their crimes,” First Assistant United States Attorney Tracy L. Wilkison said in a statement. “Our ability to obtain those communications continues to be an important part of our ability to solve these crimes.”

The investigation—known as Operation Narconetas—zeroed in on three drug trafficking organizations accused of using vehicles with hidden compartments to smuggle large quantities of drugs from Mexico to the U.S., sometimes storing the substances in stash houses before distributing them throughout the country.

The indictments outline allegations of vast drug trafficking conspiracies, and also include asset forfeiture requests as the government seeks to seize any property or resources used in the smuggling operation.

“Today’s arrest of multiple defendants for their alleged role in smuggling funds from illegal drug transactions in and out of the United States is a victory for the American public and a defeat to drug traffickers everywhere,” said IRS Special Agent in Charge R. Damon Rowe of the Los Angeles Field Office. “The special agents of IRS Criminal Investigation continue in their mission to disrupt the flow of ill-gotten gains that is the life-blood for these criminals.”

The multi-agency task force behind the arrests, known as the Los Angeles Strike Force, was formed in 2014 to target Mexican drug cartels in Los Angeles, which authorities identified as a major hub for drug trafficking and money laundering.

The strike force, led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), also included the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the California Highway Patrol; Torrance Police Department; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations; Los Angeles Police Department and others.

The arrests and indictments are just the latest federal offensive against the violent cartel. Earlier this year, prosecutors in San Diego indicted 75 people in a $6 million money laundering bust using WhatsApp, according to the Los Angeles Times.

View the original article at thefix.com

13 August 2018
Paramedics Use Laughing Gas In Lieu Of Opioids To Treat Pain

“We feel if we can prevent someone from getting an opioid we are ahead of the game,” said one Indianapolis emergency responder.

Paramedics in one Indiana town have decided to switch from fentanyl to laughing gas in an effort to keep injured patients from taking the drug, a synthetic opioid which has a high potential for addiction.

The move comes as fentanyl is tightening its grip on the state’s capital, accounting for nearly 50% of opioid-related deaths in 2017—up from just 14% in 2013.

The shift won’t entirely eliminate the Fishers Fire Department’s use of the addictive painkiller, but it could cut it down by about two-thirds, Capt. John Mehling told the Indy Star.

“If it hurts a little, why give a lot?” Mehling said. “If you are going squirrel hunting, don’t bring an elephant gun.”

For some cases—including head injuries and collapsed lungs—paramedics will still give out fentanyl. But when it comes to things like broken bones, they’ll turn to laughing gas instead.

“We feel if we can prevent someone from getting an opioid we are ahead of the game,” Mehling told the Indianapolis paper.

After decades of use in dentistry, it wasn’t until relatively recently that laughing gas started making its way into emergency room settings. It offers some advantages over other painkiller options, including the fact that it’s not addictive and doesn’t require an IV. Also, it typically takes effect within about a minute and has a good safety record.

But to use nitrous oxide, the patient has to be in good enough condition to put on the mask or tube and inhale to self-administer the gas. Then, three to five minutes later, they’ll need to do it again. Also, there have been some fatalities, and it can still present the potential for abuse, which makes it a potential target for thieves.

The shift at the Fishers Fire Department is just the latest in a growing trend. Paramedics in more than two dozen states have already started buying laughing gas for ambulances—though not always in an effort to avoid using opioids, according to the Associated Press.

For some departments, laughing gas is convenient because it offers a means to combat pain even when medical workers who can legally provide narcotic painkillers are not along for the ride.

View the original article at thefix.com

13 August 2018