Background Opiate substitution treatment for heroin users reduces mortality, illicit drug use, crime, and risk-taking behaviour, and improves physical, mental and social functioning. Few extended studies have been carried out in UK primary care to study factors predicting recovery. Aim To establish whether primary care opiate substitution treatment is associated with improvements in outcomes ov...

In a recent article, Lund et al sought to compare maternal and neonatal outcomes of various treatment regimens for opioid dependence during pregnancy.1 In their background, discussion the authors state that "In the United States buprenorphine plus naloxone [Suboxone(®)] … has been the preferred form of prescribed buprenorphine due to its reduced abuse liability relative to buprenorphine alone [...

OBJECTIVE To document the development of unique opioid-dependence treatment in remote communities that combines First Nations healing strategies and substitution therapy with buprenorphine-naloxone. DESIGN Quantitative measurements of community wellness and response to community-based opioid-dependence treatment. SETTING Remote First Nations community in northwestern Ontario. PARTICIPANTS...

Pakistan is among four countries in Asia where the estimated number of new HIV infections has been increasing year by year ever since 1990. The Asian Epidemic Modelling (AEM), conducted in 2015, reconfirmed that the use of contaminated injection equipment among people who inject drugs (PWID) remains the main mode of HIV transmission in the country. The estimated number of PWID ranges from 104,8...

Background & Aims: In this study the efficacy of traditional method, methadone tapering method and rapid method as three opiate detoxification treatments was compared based on demographic features and naltrexone consumption in a 6- month follow up. Method: This Cohort prospective study was performed on 140 opioid addict men referred to opiate detoxification center of Shahid Beheshti Hospital, K...

BACKGROUND GPs occupy a pivotal position in relation to providing services to opiate misusers in the UK, and this is now cited to support initiatives in other countries. AIMS To investigate GP involvement in the management of opiate misusers; and to examine the nature of this prescribing of methadone and other opioids. DESIGN GP data collected via self-completion postal questionnaire from a...

In France, high-dosage buprenorphine (HDB) is the main substitution treatment for narcotic addiction. Few data have been published concerning clinical factors predicting a good response to this treatment in a daily practice. A hospital-based multicenter clinical research program (PHRC) was undertaken in heroin-addicted patients, diagnosed according to DSM-III-R, to detect clinical criteria susc...