Answer Addiction

Tag: west virginia overdose rates

  • Can A Brain Chip Curb Opioid Addiction?

    Can A Brain Chip Curb Opioid Addiction?

    The first participant to receive the implant in the trial has battled treatment-resistant opioid and benzo addiction for over a decade. 

    There’s been a number of technological advances in addiction medicine over the past decade. Recovery-based apps, neurofeedback therapy and even virtual reality have ushered in a slew of treatment options for addiction.

    Now, researchers at the West Virginia University Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute and West Virginia University Medicine are conducting the first US clinical trial for a deep brain stimulation device that will target areas in the brain linked to addiction and self-control. 

    According to TechCrunch, the deep brain stimulation device will “monitor cravings in real time,” giving researchers critical insight into how addiction works in the brain. 

    West Virginia In Crisis

    The West Virginia-based organizations announced the launch of the clinical trial on Tuesday, November 5. The state, which leads the country in fatal overdose deaths, has been hit particularly hard by the opioid epidemic. 

    “Our team at the RNI is working hard to find solutions to help those affected by addiction,” Dr. Ali Rezai of the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute explained. “Addiction is a brain disease involving the reward centers in the brain, and we need to explore new technologies, such as the use of DBS, to help those severely impacted by opioid use disorder.” 

    The trial is a small one consisting of four participants with treatment-resistant opioid addiction. Prior to this trial, the DBS device had only been tested on mice with promising results.

    Deep brain stimulation is used to treat chronic pain, Parkinson’s disease, treatment-resistant depression and obseessive compulsive disorder. According to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, (AANS) around 35,000 people have DBS implants. 

    “Despite our best efforts using current, evidence-based treatment modalities, there exist a number of patients who simply don’t respond. Some of these patients remain at very high risk for ongoing catastrophic health problems and even death. DBS could prove to be a valuable tool in our fight to keep people alive and well,” said Dr. James Berry.

    The first patient to receive the Medtronic DBS device in the trial was a 33-year-old man who has been battling treatment-resistant opioid and benzo addiction for over a decade. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • West Virginia, Ohio Top National Drug Overdose Death Rates

    West Virginia, Ohio Top National Drug Overdose Death Rates

    Midwest states were among those with the lowest overdose death rates in the country.

    Statistics from the CDC show that drug overdose death rates in the United States rose nearly 10% between 2016 and 2017, with the highest death rates occurring in the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Southern regions of the country.

    Though all points in the U.S. saw significant increases during this time period, three states experienced the highest overdose death rates—West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky—as well as the District of Columbia. Opioids were involved in more than half of the overdose fatalities.

    As shown by the CDC data, drug overdose deaths in the United States rose 9.6% between 2016 and 2017; the death toll from drug overdoses reached 70,237. Opioids were involved in 67.8% of those deaths, and of that number, the CDC stated that synthetic opioids other than methadone were the primary cause of death.

    Big Increases

    Twenty-three states saw what the CDC described as “significant” increases in drug overdose deaths during this time period, including Alabama, California, Illinois, Maine, New York and Wisconsin. Though certain states had substantially high increases from 2016 to 2017—death rates in Maine rose 19.9% during this period—the number of deaths per year in these states were actually lower on a year-to-year basis than other states.

    For example, Ohio’s death rate percentage between 2016 and 2017 was 18.4%, but the actual number of deaths in that state during those years, when adjusted for age and size of population, was significantly higher in the Buckeye State (4,329 per 100,000 in 2016 and 5,111 in 2017) than in Maine (353 per 100,000 in 2016 and 424 in 2017).

    When age and number of residents was factored into the individual states’ rates, Ohio ranked second in highest death rates, with 46.3 deaths per 100,000 residents in 2017; it was preceded by West Virginia (57.8 per 100,000) and followed by the District of Columbia (44 per 100,000)—which actually saw a decrease, percentage wise, between 2016 and 2017—and Kentucky (37.2 per 100,000). 

    The Lowest Death Rates

    The states with the lowest death rates in 2017 were North Dakota, Nebraska and South Dakota, each of which either dropped or experienced death rates below 6% between 2016 and 2017.

    Response to the epidemic by state-run agencies has made improvements in death rates for 2018 and beyond.

    The New York Times noted that areas in Ohio, including the city of Dayton, have utilized federal and state grants to help reduce opioid prescriptions, expand access to the opioid overdose reversal drug, naloxone, and increase addiction treatment to residents and prison inmates. As a result, emergency room visits dropped by more than 60% between January 2017 and June of 2018.

    View the original article at thefix.com