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The annual costs for this major health concern in the US alone are in the billions of dollars. Contributing to these staggering costs for this medico-social illness are lost productivity, familial disrupu00c2u00adtions and crime. This ongoing pubu00c2u00adlic health concern includes several forms of opiate. Heroin and opioid prescription pain killers are the two most commonly abused opium-derived substances.<br>Addicts vs. Dependents<br>Both of these categories of opiu00c2u00adates play the most rapidly growing drug dependent portion of US sociu00c2u00adety. Heroin use has been increasing at alarming rates. Addicts generally pertain to the stereotypical individu00c2u00adual who is ultimately stigmatized as using the drug of their own volition due to some form of weakness or defect. Dependents by contrast, are those individuals who generally find themselves using opiate-based mediu00c2u00adcations due to: chronic pain from surgery, traumatic accidents with chronic injuries, cancer, sickle cell anemia, intense migraines and other medical/surgical conditions needing regular analgesia (pain relief).<br>Such dependent patients, who can and do occur from all areas of the population, find themselves in the same situation as the drug addicted patient. Substance abuse experts consider prescription painu00c2u00adkillers to be the new gateway drug. Even the best intentions can lead people down the life-threatening path of opiate dependency.<br>Prescription drug addiction knows no bounds. The addictive power of these prescription pain meds are so powerful that it impacts teenagers and the elderly, middle class families as well as executives, professionals and celebrities. While some people will continue abusu00c2u00ading opiate pain relievers long-term, others will graduate to using other drugs from the opiate family such as heroin or morphine.<br>An estimated ten percent of preu00c2u00adscribing physicians themselves are dependent on the very drugs that they prescribe. Opiate dependency is a physical illness involving a cenu00c2u00adtral nervous system disorder caused by long term opiate intake.<br>For more than a century or more, this dependency was simply ignored medically, politically and socially. The judicial and penal system kept tabs on the criminal aspects and even that left much to be questioned. Resultantly, a helpless-hopeless attitude developed by the powers who could intervene and much that could have been done was simply not done. The conu00c2u00adsequences of this and other systemic apathy had far reaching negatives.<br>As a whole, dependant patients were relegated to "drug-addict-crimu00c2u00adinal-outcast-defective loser status". This meant that "leper-labeling" with convenient dismissal readily occurred and still does. The patients themselves gave up and assumed the roles thereof and so did all elements of society-social, medical and politiu00c2u00adcal, leaving decades and generations to ongoing strife and predictable disasters.
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The annual costs for this major health concern in the US alone are in the billions of dollars. Contributing to these staggering costs for this medico-social illness are lost productivity, familial disrupâtions and crime. This ongoing pubâlic health concern includes several forms of opiate. Heroin and opioid prescription pain killers are the two most commonly abused opium-derived substances. Addicts vs. Dependents Both of these categories of opiâates play the most rapidly growing drug dependent portion of US sociâety. Heroin use has been increasing at alarming rates. Addicts generally pertain to the stereotypical individâual who is ultimately stigmatized as using the drug of their own volition due to some form of weakness or defect. Dependents by contrast, are those individuals who generally find themselves using opiate-based mediâcations due to: chronic pain from surgery, traumatic accidents with chronic injuries, cancer, sickle cell anemia, intense migraines and other medical/surgical conditions needing regular analgesia (pain relief). Such dependent patients, who can and do occur from all areas of the population, find themselves in the same situation as the drug addicted patient. Substance abuse experts consider prescription painâkillers to be the new gateway drug. Even the best intentions can lead people down the life-threatening path of opiate dependency. Prescription drug addiction knows no bounds. The addictive power of these prescription pain meds are so powerful that it impacts teenagers and the elderly, middle class families as well as executives, professionals and celebrities. While some people will continue abusâing opiate pain relievers long-term, others will graduate to using other drugs from the opiate family such as heroin or morphine. An estimated ten percent of preâscribing physicians themselves are dependent on the very drugs that they prescribe. Opiate dependency is a physical illness involving a cenâtral nervous system disorder caused by long term opiate intake. For more than a century or more, this dependency was simply ignored medically, politically and socially. The judicial and penal system kept tabs on the criminal aspects and even that left much to be questioned. Resultantly, a helpless-hopeless attitude developed by the powers who could intervene and much that could have been done was simply not done. The conâsequences of this and other dilaudid tablets uk systemic apathy had far reaching negatives. As a whole, dependant patients were relegated to "drug-addict-crimâinal-outcast-defective loser status". This meant that "leper-labeling" with convenient dismissal readily occurred and still does. The patients themselves gave up and assumed the roles thereof and so did all elements of society-social, medical and politiâcal, leaving decades and generations to ongoing strife and predictable disasters. What Are Opioids? There are literally dozens of either naturally occurring or synâthesized opiates or opioids available. These substances are both naturally occurring in nature either in normal brains as endorphins or enkeplalins which are nerve cell chemicals to suppress pain, diminish anxiety and serve to modulate physical stress and also as harvested from opium poppies as chemicals to soothe many ills. The earliest recorded use of the opium poppy for these areas was about 6,000 years ago. Alcohol is the only substance that outranks opiates as man's oldest and most common persistent drug of choice for abuse. Some common synthesized opiates are: • Meperdine (Dermerol)
• Propoxyphene (Darvon) • Hydrecodone (Vicodin) • Hydromorphone (Dilaudid) • Oxycodone (Oxycontin) • Percodan) and • Diacetylmorphine (Heroin). The more common naturally occurring opiates are: • Morphine and • Codeine derivatives of the poppy plant. The German pharmaceutical company Bayer first developed the new derivative of morphine in 1898 (morphine had been developed 93 years earlier also in Germany from opium as an infectable way to use opium in order to bypass the uncomfortable gastrointestinal side effects of the ingested compound), and introduced Heroin as the brand name of this new drug. Patients with opiate dependence are usually aware that their use of these controlled and dangerous subâstances are very likely to cause tolerâance (more and more of the same compound will be needed for the same effects), withdrawal (abrupt cessation will yield a physically uncomfortable, although seldomly a fatal reaction lasting upwards of one week or more) and most imporâtantly, they're armed with the prior awareness that the ongoing use/ abuse of these substances will very likely do them serious and often permanent (as in fatal) harm and yet they continue, insistently, to abuse them anyway. These are the three cornerstones of any addiction, but even more glaringly with opiâate dependency. Intravenous abuse in particular may lead to infections with potentially fatal results and overdose that is unintentional, is all too common and may also be potentially fatal. Overall health is routinely ignored and criminal activity is commonly a means to obtain the drug as well as to avoid withdrawal and its consequences. Treatment of opiate addiction/dependency is a challenge. Denial, poor insight, refusal to recogânize lost realities through minimization, lying, cheating and stealing all are part of this. Friends, family and coworkers will often attempt to shore up these serious gaps. The addiction is a chronic disease that defies a sustainâable, affordable cure. Recovery- as starkly contrasted from recovering-if and when it occurs, is always fragâile and precarious. Lapse or relapse is a constant predator. Individuals who abuse opiâates, including prescription drugs will almost invariably develop a dependency or even an addiction. Unfortunately, this will lead to nerve damage in the brain, a severely altered sensorium and cognition, all of which may proceed to more extensive and permanent negative results. Recognizing the signs of opiate addiction and dependency and understanding these deleterious consequences will hopefully provide hope and motivation to patients and families to seek effective treatments before the cascading negative sequeâlae of loss, pain, and even death, grabs hold for good. The fact that opiate addiction/ dependency can now be effectiv-ely treated with medications like Suboxone (buprenorphine), accomâpanied by appropriate psychotheraâpies, is hope for restoring patients to their most optimal level of function and health.
Please contact our office directly at (609) 484-0770 to schedule an evaluation for our comprehensive program utilizâing both modalities simultaneâously and confidentially. Being alone in all this is scary and unnecessary. Both Hydrocodone and Oxyxodone are well known chemical drugs which are used as pain medications by many consumers worldwide. In fact, they are the generic names of some of the popular brands of pain killers. For example, hydrocodone is used in medicines like Lortab, Vicodin, Lorcet, etc., and Oxycodone is marketed under the name of NSAID, OxyContin, Ibuprofen, Porcocet and Paracetamol. Generally, Oxycodone is considered stronger among the two. A 5 mg dosage of Oxycodone is equivalent to 7.5 mg dosage of Hydrocodone in order to bring about the same effect. It is also better to consume Oxycodone if people have a strong stomach. For people with weak stomach, Hydrocodone would be a better option. Therefore, in case of Oxycodone vs. Hydrocodone, the former has greater potential for relieving pain. On the other hand, Hydrocodone also brings about the same effects, but for a short duration and the pain would gain effect. In addition to that, Hydrocodone has a large number of side effects compared to Oxycodone. Oxycodone is available in the market in the form of a single-ingredient drug or in a combination with some active ingredients. Hydrocodone is only available as a combination of several ingredients. Due to the potential abuse, Oxyxodone is less prescribed by healthcare providers. People easily get addicted to it as it brings instant euphoria on consumption. Its effect also lasts for a longer duration. Also, Oxycodone is a Schedule II controlled drug whereas Hydrocodone is a Schedule III controlled drug. This means that the prescription of Oxycodone requires utmost care than the prescription of Hydrocodone. Oxycodone is used for controlling chronic pains within moderate and moderately severe levels. It brings about instant relief from pain and maintains its effect for about 6 to 8 hours up to a maximum of 12 hours. It has been efficient in improving the quality of life of individuals under severe types of pains. Oxycodone is also against chronic cancer pains. The controlled-release oral tablets of Oxycodone are known to produce better results in the management of severe cancer pains compared to the instant-release Oxycodone, hydromorphone and morphine dosages. It also shows less side effects than those drugs is very well used as an alternative to morphine in treating cancer pain. Hydrocodone, on the other hand is used as an anti-tussive and narcotic analgesic. It is often prescribed in combination with Ibuprofen or Paracetamol. The anti-tussive use of Hydrocodone is done to treat severe or moderate pain arising because of the cough problems. The pain relieving action of Hydrocodone starts within 20 to 30 minutes of consumption and remains for about 4 to 8 hours. As a result, the dosages of Hydrocodone are set at intervals of every 4 to 6 hours. Hydrocodone can cause psychological and physical dependence by forming a habit, if it is consumed very frequently. It has got a great abuse potential. It relieves the acute pain by binding the receptors to the CNS. It brings about a warm numbing sensation in the body which feels very pleasant and causes euphoria. Patients with cardiac and pulmonary diseases are prescribed the hydrocodone dosages under utmost medical supervision as it could prove to be fatal for them. The narcotic effect of Hydrocodone is enhanced when consumed along with grapefruit juice.