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Opioids are drugs that are prescribed for the treatment of pain
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Opioids are drugs that are prescribed for the treatment of pain. The prolonged use of the drugs could lead to dependence making the person lead a life full of misery. Opioid addiction in the United States has become an epidemic as more than two million individuals have been struggling with the fight against the opiate addiction and the numbers are continually increasing. The prescriptions for the opioid began to accelerate between the year 1999 and 2014 and the kind of medication, therefore, has become widely available. The availability of the drugs over the counter has made it extremely easy to obtain and consequently it is not a surprise that the United States is faced with an opioid crisis.
Opioid addiction is a chronic disease that has a major effect on the health of the addict as well as their social and economic problems. An opioid is a class of drugs targeted to act on the nervous system to relieve pain (Pati et al. 2017). Some of the opiates are legally prescribed, and some of the commonly prescribed opioid drugs include buprenorphine, oxymorphone, codeine as well as morphine. Other opioids are illegally abused with an example of heroin, especially among the youths. The addiction by opioid drugs is characterized by a powerful and compulsive urge to use the drugs even when the medical period has elapsed, and the drugs are no longer required for treatment.
Opioids drugs have a higher potential of causing addiction even when the medication is taken in the right way, and this is the main reason as to why a large number of people have been found to be victims of addiction as result of using the drugs (Roubein, 2018). Due to its high rate of addiction, the opioid addiction, therefore, becomes an issue of concern as it has affected a large number of people not only within the boundaries of the United States but as well in most of the countries around the globe causing major health, economic and social problems among the users. Therefore, there is a need to find a solution before opioid addiction has taken over the world and making the youth who are the main addicts useless creating a large number of dependency in the country.
The opioids drugs change the chemistry of the brain making the person crave for the drug eventually leading to tolerance. Thus, this implies that over some time after prolonged use of the drug, a person needs to increase the dosage of the drugs to achieve the same effect like in the previous situations. The continued use of the opioid drugs may lead a person to dependence such that the person is unable to carry out their daily activities if they stop taking the drug and this leads to the exhibition of the physical symptoms of withdrawal. Some of the symptoms of withdrawal include diarrhea, anxiety as well as muscle cramping. The use of opioids makes the persons brain, and the body has the belief that the drug is necessary for their survival and this is the main reason as to why addiction occurs due to the continued urge to take the drug.
Opioid addiction has the ability to cause health problems that can be life-threatening, and some of these problems include the risk of overdose as the user is unable to control the uptake (Ashraf et al. 2016). Overdose always result when higher doses of the opioid drugs are taken causing slow breath or even a stoppage in breathing. When breathing stops, the person may end up being unconscious, and it may also result to death if the overdose is not treated at the right time. Whether legal or illegal, the opioids do possess a risk of an overdose especially if the person takes too much of the drug to fulfill the body demands. Another reason that can lead to overdose is the combination of the opioids with other drugs especially the tranquilizers.
The main reason as to why the opioid problem has not been fully addressed is because most of the opiate drugs are readily available all over the country and this makes it easy for people to access. Another reason is the opioids are prescribed in the health institutions whereby they are administered to relieve pain and therefore it is legal to use the medically prescribed opioids as one has only to claim that they are in pain. Again, illegally abused opiates such as heroine are smuggled into the US without the detection. Most of the people use these drugs for recreational purposes and eventually end up being addicted. Therefore it has been so hard for the opioid addiction problem to be solved yet.
Globally, more than 29 million people experience drug addiction or have drug-use disorders” (“Battling the biology,” 2017). Patients enter the medical centers for treatment of common injuries are getting prescribed medications that in turn are a contribution to the addiction to not only painkillers but other hard drugs as well such as heroin. A new investigation is being practiced in delivery method therapies in order to target the functions of the neurobiology when it comes to opioid addiction and chronic pain. The contribution of opioid addiction has played a big role in the number of deaths over the years. “According to the US National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) it is estimated that 90 people die per day” (“Battling the biology,” 2017).
The abuse of prescription pain medication plays an important role in the morbidity rate and is a serious public health concern. There has been an increase in the prescriptions being provided to patients due to the new stipulations of the Joint Commission and pain management cases. Even with these new stipulation’s doctors are still advised to take better precautions on screening patients that come through hospitals as drug seekers. Close and strict patient screening by healthcare providers is among the present solutions that are targeted at reducing the opioid menace due to misdiagnosis. However, this solution is filled with flaws as still there have been more cases of addiction resulting from the opioid drugs that are prescribed at the healthcare facilities (Salani et al. 2018). Health providers are not careful enough, and cases of misdiagnosis have also been on the rise necessitating the patient to be prescribed the same opioid medication that is addictive.
Apart from the close screening of individuals in the health facilities, the government on the other side should be its role of policy legislation as well as enforcement especially those aimed at regulating the use of the opioid drugs in the United States. Policies and regulations already are in place, but the main problem is the implementation of the policies has proved to be difficult. For a long time now, most of the drug cartels are based around the American continent, and this has been a significant challenge in reducing the abuse of illegal drugs for this case heroine as a representative of the opioid class drugs. The government, therefore, should enact more strict laws and seal all the loopholes to avoid any drug trafficking in the United States as this will help reduce the rate of opioid addiction. Moreover, those found trafficking the opioids drugs should be made to face harsh penalties to prevent others from indulging into the business as it is illegal. The government should also set up rehabilitation centers to treat the addicts.
In conclusion, the opioids are used to relieve pain, and therefore a lot of people have found themselves using the drug to complaints of pain. The prolonged use of opioid drugs can lead to drug dependency and the eventual addiction making the person unable to conduct their daily life activities normally. In the United States, the opioid drugs are prescribed in the health facilities and therefore, it has been difficult to eliminate the opioid addiction menace completely. Also, the opioids are also abused as most of the opiates such as heroin are sold illegally and have gained a large number of users. To control the opioid addiction problem, the healthcare providers should be keen during screening to avoid cases of misdiagnoses. The government should also enforce the set laws to prevent the sale of illegal opioids such as heroin, and also should set up rehabilitation centers to treat the population that is already addicted.
ReferenceAshraf I., Ashraf S., Mohamad N., & Alam M. K. (2016). Maternal Opioid Addiction Results in Permanent Memory loss of Off-springs: Are We Aware? Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science, 15(3), 499–501. Retrieved from http://lscsproxy.lonestar.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,cpid&custid=s1088435&db=a9h&AN=119368359&site=ehost-liveBattling the biology of opioid addiction. (2017). Nature Medicine, 23(7), 790. Retrieved from http://link.galegroup.com.lscsproxy.lonestar.edu/apps/doc/A498250591/OVIC?u=nhmccd_main&sid=OVIC&xid=0f81d726PATI, N. B., GUPTA, V. R. M., MAYASA, V., VELIVELA, S., & HUSSAIN, M. A. (2017). Rethinking Chronic Pain Treatment with Opioids. Indian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 79(6), 849–857. Retrieved from http://lscsproxy.lonestar.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,cpid&custid=s1088435&db=a9h&AN=127471786&site=ehost-liveRoubein, R. (2018, April 17). CLOSE TO HOME: The opioid crisis is hitting families across the nation regardless of income, race or gender. Lawmakers are no exception. In the past few months, The Hill has talked to a number of House and Senate members who have a personal connection to addiction and the opioid epidemic. This is the second in a five-part digital and print series presented by Partnership for Safe Medicines. Hill, p. 10. Retrieved from http://link.galegroup.com.lscsproxy.lonestar.edu/apps/doc/A537173339/OVIC?u=nhmccd_main&sid=OVIC&xid=962dbff3Salani, D., Crenshaw, N. A., Owusu, B., & Gonzalez, J. M. (2018). Pain Management in an Opioid Epidemic: What’s Appropriate, What’s Safe. Clinician Reviews, 28(4), 40–47. Retrieved from http://lscsproxy.lonestar.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,cpid&custid=s1088435&db=a9h&AN=129477566&site=ehost-live
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