For years, the focus of one of the most pressing public health debates in America was the drug overdose epidemic. This epidemic killed almost 200 people each day last year alone. In March of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States. The novel coronavirus is currently killing about 1,000 people per day in the… Continue Reading How Opioid Litigation Complicates the Response to COVID-19
The last day of August was International Overdose Awareness Day a day of raising awareness about overdose and helping to reduce the stigma of drug-related deaths. It also acknowledged the grief felt by families and friends remembering those who have died and those whose overdoses resulted in permanent injury. September is Recovery Month. Recovery Month is all… Continue Reading September is Recovery Month
In one of the largest studies of its kind, researchers from The Ottawa Hospital, BORN Ontario, and the University of Ottawa found “an association between maternal cannabis use in pregnancy and the incidence of autism spectrum disorder in the offspring” and “the incidence of intellectual disability and learning disorders was higher among offspring of mothers… Continue Reading Cannabis Use During Pregnancy Linked to Elevated Risk of Autism
Thousands of people die each year from drug overdoses. In the United States, drug overdose deaths rose again in 2019, according to new preliminary data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in July 2020. The CDC predicts the final count for 2019 will be close to 72,000 overdose deaths, an increase of… Continue Reading International Overdose Awareness Day: August 31, 2020
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) youth are more likely to experience poor health than their heterosexual (straight/cisgender) peers. As a webpage by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about LGBTQ health explains, “LGBTQ youth are part of every community, come from all walks of life, and are present in every racial,… Continue Reading LGBTQ Patients and Specialized Addiction Treatment
“Poisonings are the leading cause of unintentional injury and death in the United States. The death rate from unintentional poisoning, particularly drug overdose involving opioids, has continually increased over the past 22 decades,” wrote Mollie Cummins, Guilherme Del Fiol, et al. in a recent article in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association (JAMIA),… Continue Reading Enabling Health Information Exchange at Poison Control Centers
Between 2017–2018, the number of drug overdose deaths decreased by four percent in the United States. According to data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 67,367 drug overdose deaths occurred in the United States in 2018. It was the second-highest number of fatalities in this century, following the peak of 2017. … Continue Reading Overdose Deaths on the Rise Again Amid COVID-19 Pandemic
World Bipolar Day is an initiative of the International Bipolar Foundation, the Asian Network of Bipolar Disorder, and the International Society for Bipolar Disorders. World Bipolar Day is observed every year on March 30th, the birthday of Vincent Van Gogh, who was posthumously diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The purpose of World Bipolar Day is to… Continue Reading March 30th is World Bipolar Day
Depression affects more than 16 million American adults every year and is the leading cause of disability in the world. Symptoms of depression include sadness, irritability, sleep disturbance, loss of interest in things you used to enjoy, slow movements, poor concentration, anxiety, and thoughts of death or suicide. Depression is typically treated with some combination… Continue Reading Recent Study Shows Adopting a Pet Can Reduce Symptoms of Depression
The opioid epidemic gets a lot of media attention, and deservedly so. The rate of fatal overdoses involving opioids has been climbing for nearly 20 years and in 2017 reached nearly 50,000. However, there may be another problem looming the shadow of the opioid epidemic. The rate of fatal overdoses involving benzodiazepines has been climbing… Continue Reading Are We In a Benzodiazepine Epidemic?
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