Page 19 - DESPA

A28 SCIENCE
Friday 26 May 2017

Science Says: Medications prevent opioid addiction relapse

CARLA K. JOHNSON based Caron Treatment “What’s right for one per-
AP Medical Writer Centers. son isn’t necessarily right for
CHICAGO (AP) — Remarks With counseling and edu- another person,” Price said
by a top U.S. health official cation about addiction, during a May 9 visit to West
have reignited a quarrel patients can get back on Virginia.
in the world of addiction track. They eventually can When asked whether he
and recovery: Does treat- taper off medications, but and his team leaned to-
ing opioid addiction with some take them for years. ward medication or faith-
medication save lives? Or WHAT RESEARCH SAYS based approaches to
does it trade one addic- Researchers studying opioid addiction, his reply
tion for another? these treatments use drug lined up with those who fa-
Health Secretary Tom screening to see whether vor abstinence.
Price’s recent comments patients are staying off ille- Abstinence-only philoso-
— one replying to a report- gal drugs. If someone uses phies “are not scientifically
er’s question, the other in a heroin while in treatment, it supported,” according
newspaper op-ed — wa- shows up in their urine. to the first surgeon gen-
ver between two strongly In this March 7, 2017 file photo, Paul “Rip” Connell, CEO of Pri- A 2014 review of 31 studies eral’s report on addiction,
held views. vate Clinic North, a methadone clinic, shows a 35 mg liquid found methadone and bu- published in November.
Medication-assisted treat- dose of methadone at the clinic in Rossville, Ga. prenorphine keep people Yet people who describe
ment, known as MAT, is Associated Press in treatment and off illicit themselves as in recovery
backed by doctors. Yet it drugs. consistently say abstinence
still has skeptics, especially The review by the Co- is important. All told, remis-
among supporters of 12- much.” drawal can feel like a bad chrane Collaboration, sion from opioid addiction
step programs like Narcot- But in an opinion piece flu with cramping, sweat- an international group can take years and mul-
ics Anonymous, because published last week in the ing, anxiety and sleepless- of scientists that evalu- tiple tries at treatment.
it involves opioid-based Charleston Gazette-Mail, ness. Cravings for the drug ates research, found each “The public needs to know
medications. he twice mentioned his can be so intense that re- drug worked better than that there are proven, ef-
Price appeared to side agency’s support for med- lapse is common. a dummy medication. A fective treatments for opi-
with that camp when he ication-assisted treatment. Medication-assisted treat- side benefit worth noting: oid addiction,” former U.S.
said during a recent visit to Here’s a closer look. ment helps by moving a Methadone also helps pre- General Vivek Murthy told
Charleston, West Virginia: HOW MEDICATION CAN patient from powerful pain- vent the spread of HIV by The Associated Press. Mur-
“If we just simply substitute TREAT ADDICTION killers or an illicit opioid like reducing needle sharing, thy was fired by the Trump
buprenorphine or metha- Because of how opioids heroin to a regular dose of a different research review administration after he re-
done or some other opi- act on the brain , people a legal opioid-based med- by Cochrane found. fused to resign.
oid-type medication for dependent on them get ication such as buprenor- Methadone and buprenor- Price also mentioned a
the opioid addiction, then sick if they stop using. With- phine or methadone. The phine can be abused and non-opioid alternative —
we haven’t moved the dial ideal dose is big enough both can cause overdoses, namely an injection of
to fend off withdrawal, but particularly methadone. naltrexone called Vivitrol
too small to produce a eu- But researchers have found — as “exciting stuff.” Vi-
phoric high. Patients can that methadone prevents vitrol, a newer drug, can
drive, rebuild relationships more overdose deaths be used only with patients
and get back to work. than it causes. who have completely de-
“They’re not walking For most patients, medica- toxed and has a limited
around high” and it gives tion combined with coun- track record compared to
them the chance to prac- seling is superior to other buprenorphine and meth-
tice new ways of coping strategies, according to adone. Early studies have
with family and psycholog- the American Society of shown promise, but relapse
ical issues, said Dr. Joseph Addiction Medicine. is a danger after injections
Garbely of Pennsylvania- OTHER OPTIONS stop.q