Credit: CC0 Public Domain Use of probiotics is linked to reduced need for antibiotic treatment in infants and children, according to a review of studies that probed the benefits of probiotics, say researchers in the U.S., England and the Netherlands. Their study, supported in part by the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics and […]
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Credit: CC0 Public Domain Amphetamine and opioid use in pregnancy increased substantially over the last decade in the United States, a new Michigan Medicine-led study finds. And a disproportionate rise occurred in rural counties. Among pregnant women in all parts of the country, amphetamine-affected births (mostly attributed to methamphetamine) doubled—from 1.2 per 1,000 hospitalizations in […]
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Credit: CC0 Public Domain Opioid overdose deaths hit the highest level ever recorded in the United States last year, with an estimated 200 people dying per day, according to a report by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Preliminary figures show more than 72,000 people died in 2017 from opioid-related overdoses across the country. About a […]
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We’ve also seen a rise in “off-label” prescription of pregabalin. This means it’s being prescribed for conditions for which there is limited evidence of effectiveness. Pregabalin is often prescribed for chronic or persisting pain, for example, even when there is no clear nerve-related cause. Pregabalin is thought to have effects in the brain similar to […]
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Credit: CC0 Public Domain In response to the opioid crisis, all 50 states have changed their laws to make naloxone, the overdose reversal drug, easier to get and use. Many states have issued standing medication orders so pharmacists can dispense the life-saving antidote without a prescription. Cities such as Philadelphia have campaigns encouraging family and […]
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Credit: 123RF.com/Rice University Most government-funded initiatives to address the overdose epidemic in the United States have targeted opioids specifically and have neglected other drugs that are increasingly implicated in overdoses, such as cocaine and methamphetamine, according to an issue brief by a drug policy expert at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. “The Drug […]
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Pain medication such as oxycodone often helps cancer patients deal with intense pain after treatment, but it also can lead to abuse. Credit: Steve Heal/Shutterstock.com The availability of life-prolonging treatments such as hormonal therapies and other targeted chemotherapy has led to a sharp decline in breast cancer deaths in the United States. But despite these […]
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This undated product image provided by Genentech shows a box for Xofluza, a pill for shortening the duration and easing symptoms of the flu. U.S. health regulators have approved the first new type of flu drug in two decades. The approval on Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2018, of Roche’s Xofluza comes ahead of this winter’s flu […]
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Credit: CC0 Public Domain Fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid implicated in nearly 29,000 overdose deaths in the United States last year, most likely spread because of heroin and prescription pill shortages, and also because it was cheaper for drug wholesalers than heroin, according to a report on illicit US drug markets by researchers at UC […]
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Credit: CC0 Public Domain Someday doctors may prescribe sugar pills for certain chronic pain patients based on their brain anatomy and psychology. And the pills will reduce their pain as effectively as any powerful drug on the market, according to new research. Northwestern Medicine scientists have shown they can reliably predict which chronic pain patients […]
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Credit: CC0 Public Domain They may start as well-intentioned efforts to calm anxiety, improve sleep or ease depression. But prescriptions for sedatives known as benzodiazepines may lead to long-term use among one in four older adults who receive them, according to new research. That’s despite warnings against long-term use of these drugs, especially among older […]
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When the retail price of a drug is less than the amount of a patient’s copay, the surplus is usually absorbed by pharmacy benefit managers, according to a recent USC study. Credit: iStock Prescription drug copayments often exceed the retail cost of a drug, a recent USC study reveals. This means that technically an overpayment […]
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(HealthDay)—Rare but serious genital infections, as well as one death, have been reported in some patients taking a certain class of type 2 diabetes medicine, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says. As a result, the FDA has ordered a new warning about this risk to be added to the prescribing information and patient medication […]
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With the support of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, scientists at Wake Forest School of Medicine have been working to find a safe, non-addictive pain killer to help fight the current opioid crisis in this country. And they may have done just that, though in an animal model. Known as AT-121, the new chemical […]
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Credit: CC0 Public Domain Stanford University researchers have developed a mathematical model that could help public health officials and policymakers curb an opioid epidemic that took the lives of an estimated 49,000 Americans last year. The model includes data about prescriptions, addictions and overdoses in the United States. It can be used to consider “what […]
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