http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Among infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS; caused by in utero opioid exposure), variants in certain genes were associated with a shorter length of hospital stay and less need for treatment, preliminary findings that may provide insight into the mechanisms underlying NAS, according to a study in the May 1 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on child health. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-effects-genetic-variants-infants-neonatal.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 30 Apr 2013 10:02:56 EST news286534964 Children prenatally exposed to methadone or Subutex (buprenorphine) are prone to developing cognitive difficulties. According to one researcher, these children still need close follow-up after they begin school. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-methadone-children-problems-school.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 16 Apr 2013 06:00:02 EST news285309982 (Medical Xpress)—In a surprise finding, Yale researchers report that adding cognitive behavioral therapy to the most commonly used drug treatment for opioid dependence does not further reduce illicit drug use by patients. The study, which could change how such dependence is viewed and treated in the U.S. healthcare system, appears online in the American Journal of Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-cognitive-behavioral-therapy-drug-treatment.html Psychology & Psychiatry Fri, 04 Jan 2013 06:50:35 EST news276504624 Buprenorphine is a safe and effective drug for treating opioid addiction. But as the prescribed use of buprenorphine has dramatically increased in recent years, accidental exposure of children to the drug has risen sharply, placing them at risk for serious injury and in extremely rare cases even death, according to researchers at the Utah Poison Control Center (UPCC), U School of Medicine's Department of Family and Preventive Health, and the Utah Department of Health (UDOH). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-drug-opioid-addiction-poses-accidental.html Medications Fri, 14 Dec 2012 15:30:29 EST news274721415 (Medical Xpress)—People who inject drugs (PWID) can significantly reduce their risk of HIV infection with the use of opiate substitution treatments such as methadone, as suggested by an international team of researchers in a paper published today on bmj.com. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-methadone-hiv-transmission-people-drugs.html HIV & AIDS Fri, 05 Oct 2012 09:26:19 EST news268647951 (HealthDay) -- Heroin addicts often have an increased sensitivity to pain, and this sensitivity does not subside over the course of treatment with methadone or other opioids, new research finds. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-heroin-addicts-higher-pain-sensitivity.html Addiction Wed, 25 Apr 2012 17:50:02 EST news254593847 Many health care professionals (HCPs) have easy access to controlled medications and the diversion and abuse of drugs among this group may be as high as 10%. Controversy surrounds the safety of allowing addicted HCPs to return to clinical practice while undergoing medical treatment with opioid substitution therapy such as buprenorphine. In the March issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Heather Hamza, CRNA, MS, of the Department of Anesthesiology, Los Angeles County Medical Center at the University of Southern California, and Ethan O. Bryson, MD, of the Departments of Anesthesiology and Psychiatry, Mt. Sinai Medical Center, New York, review the evidence and call for abstinence-based recovery instead. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-hcps-pharmacotherapeutic-treatment-opioid-addiction.html Addiction Fri, 02 Mar 2012 10:45:22 EST news249907511 Individuals addicted to prescription painkillers are more likely to succeed in treatment with the aid of the medication buprenorphine-naloxone (Suboxone), report McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School researchers in today's online edition of the Archives of General Psychiatry. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-suboxone-effective-painkiller-addiction.html Medications Mon, 07 Nov 2011 17:06:37 EST news239907981 In what is believed to be the first study of its kind to demonstrate an association between the antidepressant escitalopram and improved general pain, researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), have found that opioid-dependent patients treated with escitalopram experienced meaningful reductions in pain severity and pain interference during the first three months of therapy. These findings appear in the journal Pain. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-anti-depressants-pain-opioid-dependent-patients.html Medical research Thu, 03 Nov 2011 11:00:08 EST news239536254 Ordinary painkillers such as paracetamol may work better than the risky antipyschotic drugs often prescribed to calm agitation in people with dementia, according to a study released Monday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-dementia-common-painkillers.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 18 Jul 2011 15:17:21 EST news230221027