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General interest items edited by Janice Flahiff

[News article] Study reveals lack of data on opioid drugs for chronic pain — ScienceDaily

Study reveals lack of data on opioid drugs for chronic pain — ScienceDaily.
p0303-prescription-opioidshttp://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2014/p0303-prescription-opioids.html

 

From the article

Date:January 15, 2015
Source:University of Connecticut
Summary:Researchers have found little to no evidence for the effectiveness of opioid drugs in the treatment of long-term chronic pain, despite the explosive recent growth in the use of the drugs.
Read the article here

January 21, 2015 Posted by | Medical and Health Research News, Uncategorized | , , , , , | Leave a comment

[Research summary] New Research Review Looks at Effectiveness and Risks of Long-Term Opioid Treatment of Chronic Pain

From the AHRQ Web site

A new research review from AHRQ’s Effective Health Care Program  found that while the evidence on the effectiveness and harms of opioid therapy for chronic pain treatment is limited, there is an increased risk of serious harms based on the opioid dose given. The research review assesses observational studies that suggest that use of long-term opioids for chronic pain is associated with increased risk of abuse, overdose, fractures and heart attack, when compared with patients who are not being prescribed opioids. The review noted that more research is needed to understand the long-term benefits, risk of abuse and related outcomes, and effectiveness of different opioid prescribing methods and strategies. The review is titled, “The Effectiveness and Risks of Long-Term Opioid Treatment of Chronic Pain.” AHRQ has also released a statistical brief from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project titled, “Hospital Inpatient Utilization Related to Opioid Overuse Among Adults, 1993-2012.” According to the brief, hospitalization rates for opioid overuse more than doubled from 1993 to 2012 and increased at a faster rate for people age 45 and older. In addition, AHRQ Director Rick Kronick, Ph.D., has published a blog about opioids.

October 17, 2014 Posted by | Medical and Health Research News | , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

   

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