The mortality and morbidity from heroin overdose have increased in the United States and internationally in the last decade. The lipid solubility allows the rapid deposition of heroin and its metabolites into the central nervous system and accounts for the "rush" experienced by users and for the toxicity. Risk factors for fatal and nonfatal heroin overdoses such as recent abstinence, decreased ...

BACKGROUND Though patients in opiate substitution programs are commonly infected with HCV, due to safety and efficacy concerns, they are rarely treated with interferon and ribavirin. METHODS In a multicenter study, HCV-infected patients in opiate maintenance treatment programs received 180 microg pegylated interferon-alfa-2a once weekly, plus daily ribavirin for 24 weeks (genotypes 2, 3), or ...

The opioid peptide met-enkephalin (met-ENK) produces an outward current with an increase in input conductance in locus coeruleus (LC) neurons. This current has been attributed to an opening of potassium channels. However, the opioid-induced current tends to reverse at potentials more negative than the expected potassium reversal potential (EK) or does not reverse at all. Since lack of reversal ...

buprenorphine (subutex) has been used to treat opioid dependency in the past 16 years. subutex (or buprenorphine hydrochloride) was approved by the singapore's ministry of health (moh) in 2000 as a substitution treatment for opiate-dependent drug abusers within the framework of medical, social and psychological treatments. it was subsequently introduced into the singapore market in 2002. i...

This chapter traces the diffusion of harm reduction in Europe and around the world. The term ‘harm reduction’ became prominent in the mid-1980s as a response to newly discovered HIV epidemics amongst people who inject drugs in some cities. At this time, many European cities played a key role in the development of innovative interventions such as needle and syringe programmes. The harm reduction...

This review systematically assessed the clinical evidence for and against acupuncture as a treatment for psychological symptoms associated with opioid addiction. The database was accessed from MEDLINE and China Knowledge Resource Integrated Database. We included all randomized clinical trials published in Chinese and English regardless of their controls. Meta-analysis was performed using the Re...

BACKGROUND To determine relapse rates and associated factors among people who use drugs (PWUDs) attending abstinence-oriented drug treatment clinics in Dhaka, Bangladesh. METHODS A cohort of male and female PWUDs admitted to the 3-month drug detoxification-rehabilitation treatment programmes of three non-governmental organisation-run drug treatment clinics in Dhaka, Bangladesh were interviewe...