FRIDAY, April 2, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Overdose deaths resulting from a dangerous combination of cocaine and opioids are outpacing fatalities linked to cocaine abuse alone, a new U.S. government report warns. “Much of the increase in the rate of drug overdose deaths involving cocaine in recent years is dueContinue Reading
FRIDAY, April 2, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Illegal drug sales on the dark web are common, hard to detect and are fueling America’s opioid epidemic, a University of Texas study reveals. Opioids include prescription painkillers (such as oxycodone) and illegal drugs (such as heroin and fentanyl). “People are struggling fromContinue Reading
FRIDAY, March 5, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Seizures of illegal drugs fell sharply in the United States during early COVID-19 lockdowns, but spiked once stay-at-home orders eased. Researchers studied seizures of marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and fentanyl in five locations between March 2019 (a year before the pandemic began inContinue Reading
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 3, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Philadelphia is seeing a surge in overdose fatalities involving heroin and/or fentanyl plus an animal tranquilizer not approved for human use, according to a new study. The tranquilizer — called xylazine — is a non-opioid sedative and painkiller approved by the U.S. FoodContinue Reading
TUESDAY, Feb. 2, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Cannabidiol (CBD) products are seemingly everywhere these days, but they won’t help cure a cocaine addiction, a Canadian study finds. CBD, a chemical in the cannabis plant, has long been touted as a treatment for cocaine addiction. But researchers at the University ofContinue Reading
FRIDAY, Jan. 22, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Deaths from overdoses of methamphetamine are rising across the United States, especially among Blacks and American Indians/Alaska Natives, a new study warns. “While much attention is focused on the opioid crisis, a methamphetamine crisis has been quietly, but actively, gaining steam — particularlyContinue Reading
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 20, 2021 (HealthDay News) — In what may signal a seismic shift in the treatment of methamphetamine addiction, a pair of prescription drugs appears to help patients significantly reduce their stimulant use, or quit altogether. The combination therapy involves an injectable medication called extended-release naltrexone and a dailyContinue Reading
FRIDAY, Oct. 25, 2019 (HealthDay News) — More people die from drug overdoses in the northeastern U.S. than other regions, making it a major hotbed of the nation’s opioid epidemic, a new federal report says. Fueled mainly by fentanyl and heroin, overdose (OD) deaths are soaring in an area thatContinue Reading
THURSDAY, Aug. 1, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Autopsies have uncovered new insight into how the illegal drug methamphetamine harms the heart. Preliminary findings presented Thursday at an American Heart Association meeting, in Boston, suggest that meth triggers a buildup of tough protein fibers known as collagen in the heart muscle.Continue Reading
TUESDAY, May 21, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Cannabidiol (CBD) has been receiving a lot of attention lately as a potential treatment for everything from epilepsy to anxiety. Now, researchers report it might also help curb the cravings that come with opioid addiction. Like marijuana, CBD comes from the cannabis plant.Continue Reading
MONDAY, May 6, 2019 (HealthDay News) — As if using cocaine or methamphetamines isn’t risky enough, new research shows a sharp spike in urine drug tests that are positive for those drugs and the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl. The findings could provide insight into steeply rising rates of cocaine- andContinue Reading
THURSDAY, March 21, 2019 (HealthDay News) — The number of Americans dying from overdoses of the powerful narcotic fentanyl rose 12-fold in recent years, health officials reported Thursday. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that’s hundreds of times more potent than heroin or cocaine. But sometimes drug users don’t know they’reContinue Reading
WEDNESDAY, March 6, 2019 (HealthDay News) — New research uncovers more damage wrought by the opioid epidemic: Cases of a dangerous heart infection linked to injection drug use have spiked in recent years at an Ohio medical center. Researchers found that admissions for infective endocarditis at The Ohio State UniversityContinue Reading
THURSDAY, Dec. 6, 2018 (HealthDay News) — It’s not standard practice in the United States, but supervised access to medical-grade heroin may reduce the risk of harm for heroin addicts unable to kick the habit, new research suggests. This approach has been successful in other countries and should be triedContinue Reading