The pandemic period has seen opioid use increase, and with this, rising levels of addiction in the U.S. There has also been a shift upwards in terms of the more serious consequences. For instance, emergency department visit rates because of an opioid overdose rose by 28.5 percent across the U.S. in 2020, compared to 2018 and 2019. Over 70 percent of drug overdose deaths in 2019 involved an opioid.
Fentanyl, oxycodone, morphine are examples of the types of drug substances which are used as a source of both pain relief; which are highly addictive; and which can be the cause of a painful epidemic of addiction and death.
Commenting on the new data, Dr. Molly Jeffery, who led the research, states: “COVID-19, and the disruptions in every part of our social and work lives, made this situation even harder by increasing the risk of opioid misuse and relapse because people were separated from their social support and normal routines.”
She goes on to expand upon the seriousness: “While institutions across the U.S. are keenly aware that opioid misuse is a major health concern, this shows that there is more work to be done, and it provides an opportunity for institutions and policymakers to expand evidence-based treatments and resources.”
The latest trend data appears in the journal Annals of Emergency Medicine, with the research headed “Emergency Department Visits for Nonfatal Opioid Overdose During the COVID-19 Pandemic Across Six US Health Care Systems.”
Opioid alternatives?
Medical doctors, at least the more scrupulous ones, have attempted for years to balance the potent pain-relieving properties of opioids with their numerous negative side effects. Thus has delivered mostly mixed results. Balanced against this the public’s, strongly within the U.S. and also around the world, desire for pain relief and the risk of addiction that this leads to.
One area that has seen some success is with research into ways by which the body’s natural pain killers can be enhanced, as a way to cut down on opioid drug use. University of Michigan medics have discovered an opioid-receptor modifying compound that works to relieve pain using the body’s own pain-killers, with fewer side effects than opioids.
At present the research remains at the animal model stage, although the findings are promising. The study appears in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, titled “Positive allosteric modulation of the mu-opioid receptor produces analgesia with reduced side effects.”
Tobacco and vaping use also climbs In addition, pandemic-related anxiety, boredom, and irregular routines have been connected within a study as drivers of increased nicotine and tobacco use. The research does not only recount the rise in addiction, it also highlights ways that public health interventions and policies can better support quit attempts and harm reduction, both during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.
