America is hooked on pain killers

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America is Hooked on Pain Killers
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• Did you know that almost two million Americans
  are dependent on or abuse legal opioids? In 2015,
  19,000 people died from fatal overdoses of
  legally prescribed prescription painkillers says
  the federal government.
• However, this number is most likely understated
  as there are thousands of elderly people dying of
  prescription painkiller overdoses that are never
  reported as autopsies are unusual in the over 65
  age group.
• According to the 2014 IMS Health Statistics,
  there were 55 million prescriptions written for
  painkillers for the people over age 65 a 20
  increase over five years, which is double the
  growth of this age group.

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Pain Relief at Any Cost?

• At the core of this issue is the belief among
  physicians that patients are entitled to relief
  from pain, while many doctors, scientists, and
  researchers feel that powerful painkillers are
  overused for minor aches and pains that are
  better treated by exercise, an OTC pain relief
  medication, and perhaps physical therapy.
• In the meantime, as painkillers become difficult
  to get for addicted patients they turn to the
  black market, where drugs are often adulterated,
  or switch to heroin as the cost is much less than
  on the street than it is for prescription
  painkillers.

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What Makes Opioids So Dangerous?

• Meldon Kahan, a substance abuse expert, told The
  Week
• We have now this incredibly unusual public
  health crisis, thats essentially caused by
  physicians.
• finally banned OTC use because of the highly
  addictive nature of opioids. The prescription
  medication was not a problem. But, that changed
  during the 1980s, when opioid use, which until
  then had been for terminal patients, and
  post-surgical patients, began to seep into the
  offices of private practice physicians and even
  non-profit affiliated doctors who began
  prescribing them for chronic pain management a
  use they were never intended for.

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Opiate Addiction Treatment

• Opiate treatment has several options. Of course,
  the first step is dealing with withdrawal. In
  general, the longer a person is taking an opiate
  and the stronger the doses are, the more
  difficult withdrawal becomes.
• People who try going cold turkey usually fail.
  For opiate treatment, it is best to go to a
  facility that allows you to reside there during
  the withdrawal process. Patients can be
  supported by trained staff who may supervise
  group therapy or do face-to-face therapy during
  the withdrawal process.
• It should be noted that frequently those who
  abuse prescription painkillers also abuse
  sedatives such as barbiturates and benzodiazepine
  type drugs (e.g. Ativan and Xanax). Withdrawal
  of these drug classes must be done under medical
  supervision as they require weaning from rather
  than abrupt termination.

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• The Challenge Today
• The best solution to the problems inherent in
  opioid medications is to develop new medicines to
  control pain that is not addictive. This is
  something that researchers are working on now.
• Post Excerpt
• Did you know that almost two million Americans
  are dependent on or abuse legal opioids? In 2015,
  19,000 people died from fatal overdoses of
  legally prescribed prescription painkillers.
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