By now, the opioid epidemic is a familiar topic to many Americans. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), “every day, more than 115 American die after overdosing on opioids.” The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is committed to the fight against opioid misuse and addiction. In a May 2017 address, NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins and NIDA Director Dr. Nora Volkow outlined research priorities for ending the opioid crisis, such as finding new ways to treat opioid addiction and improving overdose prevention and reversal. The NCBI Bookshelf, an archive of books and documents in life science and healthcare, offers a variety of resources related to enacting such solutions.
These materials include policy reports, treatment protocols, guidelines, and informational briefs. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine publication “Pain Management and the Opioid Epidemic: Balancing Societal and Individual Benefits and Risks of Prescription Opioid Use” offers a study of pain management and opioid use disorder and makes recommendations for government agencies. “Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health” also addresses the growing public health concerns that opioid addiction poses in the United States and makes recommendations for prevention, intervention, recovery, and innovative public health approaches to substance abuse.
The NCBI Bookshelf also has treatment protocols and guidelines for clinicians. The National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health in the U.K. has released two guidelines, “Drug Misuse: Opioid Detoxification” and “Psychosis with Coexisting Substance Misuse: Assessment and Management in Adults and Young People”, designed to help clinicians assess and manage treatment for patients with coexisting mental health and substance abuse conditions.
Other resources assess the use of opioid treatment in evidence reports and drug reviews. The Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH) reports on the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of Suboxone versus Methadone for detoxification, Buprenorphine/Naloxone versus Methadone for treatment, and rapid and ultra-rapid opioid detoxification. Other evidence reports like the CADTH report Long-acting Opioids for Chronic Non-cancer Pain: A Review of the Clinical Efficacy and Safety address the costs and benefits of using opioids to treat pain.
To explore all of Bookshelf’s resources on opioid use, misuse, and addiction, visit the NCBI Bookshelf website and search “opioid AND addiction” to see related resources.
It is great to see that these resources are being made available. There are so many publications in the field of addiction, but still so much we have to learn. It is a staggering statistic that we are losing over 100 Americans a day to this problem. The more resources made available, the better chance professionals have to make a difference, thank you.
Source: https://www.addicted.org/frequently-asked-questions.html