OxyContin maker Purdue has reportedly been mulling a bankruptcy filling, just as the first of around 2,000 lawsuits against it prepares to go to trial.
A safety committee convened by the FDA has declared esketamine safe for severe depression. But isn’t this drug the same as ketamine, an illegal street drug? A medical anthropologist explains.
The over-medicalization of back pain is a global concern. New research in Canada shows that people with lower income as well as rural and remote dwellers are less likely to access physiotherapy care.
Drinking among older adults is up. And while overdrinking may not pose an immediate threat of overdose, it is not healthy for seniors, many of whom take several medications and are at risk for falls.
The sexualized use of crystal meth by gay men is one of the key drivers of rising HIV rates and has many negative mental health consequences. Integrated sexual and substance use care is vital.
People who use painkillers for non-medical reasons often justify it as a form of self-medication for legitimate medical diagnoses such as depression, anxiety and stress.
Most countries need to find a happy balance between the American attitude that all pain needs to be cured – and the ethos in other countries that pain is to be endured.
Tao Che, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Scientists have taken atomic resolution snapshots of an opioid receptor interacting with a drug. Now they are using these images to design “biased” opioids that block pain without the dangerous side effects.
The obesity epidemic, the flu epidemic, the opioid epidemic… in the 21st century, everything seems to be an “epidemic”. But what does the term actually mean?
Scientists are just starting to understand how your parents’ genes and experiences might shape your own susceptibility to dangerous drugs. Could that help to stop addictions before they start?
Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation; Sasha Petrova, The Conversation; Sophie Heizer, The Conversation, dan Benjamin Ansell, The Conversation
Trust Me I’m An Expert: The science of pain
The Conversation58,7 MB(download)
Our podcast Trust Me, I'm An Expert, goes beyond the headlines and asks researchers to explain the evidence on issues making news. Today, we're talking pain and what science says about managing it.