The medical, ethical, and political history of treating pain with opiates, and balancing this against the risk of opiate abuse and addiction, has gone through various historical shifts and cycles.1 The treatment of pain with opiates expanded in the U.S. during the years following World War II in response to the needs of injured soldiers. The 1980s saw a backlash in the U.S. in response to conce...

The rewarding effects of drugs of abuse are thought to be dependent on the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system, which originates in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and projects into the nucleus accumbens (NAC) and other forebrain regions. Heroin, by inhibiting GABAergic interneurons in the VTA, induces local dopaminergic activation and release in the NAC terminals. The role of other basic neurot...

There is a growing body of evidence to support the use of medical cannabis as an adjunct to or substitute for prescription opiates in the treatment of chronic pain. When used in conjunction with opiates, cannabinoids lead to a greater cumulative relief of pain, resulting in a reduction in the use of opiates (and associated side-effects) by patients in a clinical setting. Additionally, cannabino...

background due to its progressive nature in all aspects of life, addiction endangers the health of individuals, families and the society. objectives the purpose of this study was to determine the role of self-regulation and affective control in predicting interpersonal reactivity of drug addicts. materials and methods this research is a correlation study. the statistical population of this stud...

Heroin addiction is a chronic, complex disease, often accompanied by other concomitant disorders, which may encumber effective prevention and treatment. To explore the differences in expression profiles of serum proteins in control and heroin addicts, we used two-dimensional electrophoresis coupled to MALDI-TOF/TOF, and identified 4 proteins of interest. Following validation of the increase in ...

By Arthur Falek, Ph.D. What is known about the genetic aspects of opiate addiction? Opiates such as heroin and dilaudid are drugs which have long been known to relieve or depress pain but increased consumption frequently result in uncontrolled drug use and addiction. These properties of opiates led to the discovery that there are specific opiate receptors in the brain and that the central nervo...

To the Editor: There has recently been an explosion of interest in, and research on, the personality of opiate addicts. Individuals with substance use disorders suffer from high rates of non-substance use psychiatric disorders. A survey found axis II disorders in 90% of opiate addicts. Another survey showed that there is a relationship between opiate dependence and some particular personality p...

Dentists who treat teen and pre-teen age patients probably have been in contact with drug addicts. Addicts mcty seek only crisis-oriented dental care and may attempt to gain a prescription from the dentist. The dentist should be aware of patients who have been or are presently on drugs and should not treat these patients while they are under the influence o[ an abused drug. Addicts injecting dr...

Objective: Food addiction is a behavioral that presents with addictive changes toward high sugar, fat, and highly palatable foods. This study aims to determine the relationship between food personality traits, personal habits, psychiatric symptomatology. Method: In cross-sectional design study, participation of 1500 students studying in Konya Selçuk University Central Campus was planned. A soci...