http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Half of patients on high-dose, long-term opioid therapy had hormonal disturbances or signs of inflammation, while 100 percent reported improved pain control and mental outlook, new research shows. The results, reported today at the 29th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Pain Medicine, present rare data on the effects of opioids beyond 10 years. Most clinical trials that examine opioid use are of short duration, and little is known about long-term outcomes, particularly in patients who suffer from noncancer pain. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-high-dose-opioids-disturb-hormones-long-term.html Medications Thu, 11 Apr 2013 16:56:13 EST news284918155 Among infants undergoing major surgery, postoperative use of intermittent intravenous paracetamol (acetaminophen) for the management of pain resulted in a lower cumulative morphine dose over 48 hours, according to a study appearing in the January 9 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-post-operative-intravenous-acetaminophen-morphine-infants.html Surgery Tue, 08 Jan 2013 16:00:01 EST news276864462 (HealthDay) -- Alcohol or sedative use during chronic opioid therapy (COT) for non-cancer pain puts patients at risk for adverse events such as respiratory depression or sedation, and the risk of concurrent use of central nervous system (CNS) depressants is not limited to patients with a history of substance abuse, according to a study published in the March issue of The Journal of Pain. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-alcohol-opioids-common-abuse.html Addiction Mon, 16 Apr 2012 17:25:11 EST news253815902 Opioids -- a class of medicines commonly given for pain -- were associated with a higher risk of pneumonia in a study of 3,061 adults, aged 65 to 94, e-published in advance of publication in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. The study from researchers at Group Health Research Institute and the University of Washington (UW) also found that benzodiazepines, which are drugs generally given for insomnia and anxiety, did not affect pneumonia risk. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-opioids-linked-higher-pneumonia-older.html Medications Thu, 22 Sep 2011 16:30:38 EST news235927705