Opiates are among the most powerful analgesics and pain-relieving agents. However, they are potentially extremely addictive thereby limiting their medical use, making them exceedingly susceptible to abuse and adding to the global drug problem. It is believed that positive memories associated with the pleasurable effects of opiates and negative memories associated with dysphoria during opiate wi...

This publication presents an overview of the practices and the context of pharmacotherapy of opioid dependence in selected countries of the South East Asia and Western Pacific regions of the World Health Organisation. Based on reports provided by professionals involved in treatment of opioid dependence in these regions, the document describes the current situation with opioid use and its health...

BACKGROUND The Norwegian model for opioid maintenance treatment (OMT) "Drug-assisted rehabilitation" (DAR) is a cross-disciplinary tripartite model for the treatment of opioid dependence. The model requires collaboration among GPs, the social services and the specialist health services. To some degree it restricts the doctor's professional autonomy. The investigation aims to examine GPs' attitu...

Addiction to the illicit and prescribed use of opiate is an alarming public health issue. Studies on addictive disorders have demonstrated severe nutritional deficiencies in opiate abusers with behavioral, physiological and cognitive symptoms. Opiate addiction is also link with a significant number of diseases including Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) and other blood...

In the present study, we examined the composition of electroencephalographic (EEG) brain oscillations in broad frequency band (0.5-30 Hz) in 22 opioid-dependent patients and 14 healthy subjects during resting condition (closed eyes). The exact compositions of brain oscillations and their temporal behavior were assessed by the probability-classification analysis of short-term EEG spectral patter...

OBJECTIVES To compare maternal characteristics, prenatal care, and newborn outcomes in a cohort of opioid-dependent pregnant women treated with methadone versus buprenorphine. METHODS In a retrospective cohort study, 609 pregnant, opioid-dependent women were treated with methadone (n = 248) or buprenorphine (n = 361) between 2000 and 2012 at a single institution. RESULTS Mothers treated wit...

In order to increase safe access to buprenorphine treatment for patients with opioid dependence, it is the position of the International Nurses Society on Addictions (IntNSA) that the Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000 (DATA 2000) be amended to allow for the prescribing of buprenorphine by qualified advanced practice nurses who have both prescriptive authority and specialty certification in a...

Cognitive function during short-term abstinence from opioid dependence: a comparison to age, Title: gender, and verbal intelligence matched controls

Scientific information about the neurobiology of addictive behaviors provides an increasingly important rationale to support opioid agonist pharmacotherapy, primarily methadone maintenance treatment, for long-term heroin addiction. In late 1963 and 1964, the first research was performed at The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research by Dole, Nyswander, and Kreek in an attempt to develop a ne...

Medical practitioners in South Africa are increasingly confronted with requests to treat patients with opioid use disorders. Many do not possess the required knowledge and skills to deal with these patients effectively. This overview of the medical treatment of opioid dependence was compiled by an elected working group of doctors working in the field of substance dependence. Recommendations are...