Idea #318 for January 2nd, 2010: Pill Police or Fighting Prescription Drug Abuse

Prescription drug abuse remains a major issue in the US, and the problem is growing more widespread. Between the years 2006 and 2007, prescription drug abuse jumped by more than 10% while use of street drugs declined. Meanwhile, in the decade preceding 2007, the number of prescriptions filled jumped 72%. This greater availability of prescription meds may be related to the rise in abuse.

People are able to obtain these drugs in a few ways. More than half are able to get them from a friend or relative who may have leftover drugs that were legitimately prescribed to them. Some are able to order drugs from the internet without a valid prescription. And others are able to convince a provider to prescribe them drugs for a faked medical condition. Cracking down on the illegal sale of prescription drugs online may curb the abuse to some extent. But the biggest challenge will be to curb the sharing of medications that are legitimately prescribed.

Read more about this story here.

Idea #307 for December 22nd, 2009: Any Time Is The Right Time or Quitting Smoking Offers Benefits Even After Lung Cancer Diagnosis

It’s never too late to quit smoking. New research finds that quitting smoking even after being diagnosed with lung cancer can improve the chances of survival. In fact, patients who quit smoking after an early stage lung cancer diagnosis double their 5-year survival rate. However, only 20% of lung cancers are caught at this early stage, so early detection is still the most important part. The benefits of quitting smoking may not apply to patients in later stages of the disease. Still, this finding offers hope to thousands who may have otherwise figured it was too late to quit. Smoking cessation programs should be strongly encouraged for all cancer patients — and especially those in the early stages of lung cancer.

Read more about this study here.

Idea #249 for October 25th, 2009: A Small Habit or Occasional Smokers Deserve More Attention

Much effort has been made in recent years to curb smoking in this country. Studies and statistics in this area often define people as smokers or non-smokers. But there is another group that sometimes gets lost in the mix: occasional smokers. People in this group might smoke on a non-daily basis or just in social situations, but are involved in an unhealthy habit nonetheless.

Occasional smokers have increased in number coinciding with the rise of smoking bans in restaurants and workplaces, probably because some former full-time smokers have had to cut back to the point of smoking only on occasion. They tend to be younger than other smokers, with many in their twenties. They often do not label themselves smokers and feel that the health risks associated with daily smokers do not necessarily apply to them. Studies have shown that occasional smokers are at a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and other problems, though.

The main point is that this group is often overlooked in medical research on smokers because they don’t solidly fit in any group. And they are sometimes overlooked by providers trying to screen for smokers, because they may not label themselves as such. If occasional smokers are included in more smoking studies, we will be able to devise smoking cessation programs to meet the needs of this particular group in the future.

Read more about the issue in the LA Times.

Idea #235 for October 11th, 2009: Dial “N” for Nicotine or New Telephone Therapy Helps Teens Quit Smoking

New research suggests that an effective way to help teens quit smoking involves counseling over the phone. In a study involving 2,000 high school students in Washington, teens who received motivational and cognitive behavioral skills training telephone counseling fared better than those in the control group. Ten percent of teens who were daily smokers quit for a period of at least six months (a year after beginning the program), while that rate was six percent for the control group.

For the teen smokers, the methods used over the phone included help with anticipating and dealing with stress, identifying the need to quit, and making plans to quit. The telephone intervention showed evidence of being successful within just 7 days for some subjects. Such methods may make more sense than prescribing anti-smoking medications to teens, and phone counseling is more convenient than visits to a psychologist. Still, only ten percent of the smokers in the study quit within a year. But any ground gained in the fight against teen smoking is a major victory in preventing smoking-related ailments in the future.

For more, read this article about the subject.

Idea #227 for October 3rd, 2009: Fight Fire With Fire or An Effective But Controversial Heroin Treatment

Could administering heroin to addicts actually help in the recovery from drug addiction? Surprisingly, the answer could be yes, according to a study in England. A four-year trial has found success in giving daily injections to heroin addicts to wean them off the drug, and has proven more effective than methadone and other treatments. Within 6 months, three-quarters of participants in the study had largely given up heroin, and the average number of crimes they committed decreased to a third of what it had been at the start.

In Switzerland, where a similar program has been in place for years, less than 15% of the patients revert back to daily use following treatment. In the US, over 3 million people have used heroin at least once. The number of addicts is likely in the hundreds-of-thousands. It might be difficult to convince the public that administering an illegal drug to addicts is a smart move, but the results don’t lie. But it should at least be part of the conversation of how we treat drug addiction in this country, especially because it has the added effect of lowering crime.

Read about this trial in Time.

Idea #216 for September 22nd, 2009: Snuffed Out or FDA Bans Flavored Cigarettes

The FDA made the right choice Tuesday in banning the sale of flavored cigarettes. Flavors like chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla have been known to attract young people to tobacco products. In fact, studies show 17 year old smokers are three times more likely than those over 25 to smoke flavored cigarettes. Not allowing tobacco companies to sell flavored tobacco products should cut down on teenage smoking rates and save many lives down the line.

The FDA now has the authority to regulate tobacco products, thanks to a bill signed into law a few months ago, and this is their first major move against the tobacco industry since then. The move, though, may not be broad enough; it currently only bans flavored cigarettes while cigarillos and small cigars can still legally be sold with flavoring. Menthol cigarettes are also spared from the ban. Nonetheless, the ban is definitely a positive step forward for our nation’s health that will reap benefits for generations to come.

Read more about this news story in the New York Times.

Idea #177 for August 14th, 2009: Bitter Pill or Making Painkillers Harder to Abuse

An interesting new drug won approval from the FDA yesterday that may be a step towards making narcotics less addictive. The drug, Embeda, is an extended release morphine pill that has been designed to be difficult to abuse. Many prescription pill abusers crush, inject, or dissolve pills rather than swallow them, in order to get a faster and more intense effect. Embeda, though, contains a core made of naltrexone, an opioid antagonist that will block the euphoric effects of morphine. When ingested normally, the morphine is absorbed but the naltrexone passes through the body, allowing the morphine to take effect. However, if crushed or dissolved, the naltrexone is released and will, in theory, block morphine’s effect.

About 5 million Americans misuse prescription pain meds, and 5% of high school seniors admit to have abused OxyContin at some point. Those numbers have pushed drug companies to find new ways to make the painkillers less appealing to addicts. At least two other drugs that will function in a similar way are awaiting approval from the FDA currently. But the drugs may not be completely effective in their anti-abuse goals. Clinical trials of Embeda indicated users were less likely to receive euphoric results when the drug was crushed, however, the company that produces it admits that there is no evidence the drug is less likely to be abused. One also has to wonder if making narcotics less effective will just drive abusers to take greater quantities, which could result in overdoses. But if they truly do reduce the potential for abuse, this new wave of narcotics may cut down on the number of teen addicts.

Read more about the approval of the drug in Bloomberg and in the Wall St Journal.

Idea #84 for May 13th, 2009: The Digital Sponsor or Curbing Drinking Through Websites

Help in battling alcoholism may be only a mouse click away. That’s what a study found in the Netherlands, anyway. A Dutch website called www.minderdrinken.nl is helping people with problem-drinkers reduce their alcohol consumption. Over six months, 19% of Dutch subjects had reduced their drinking to levels deemed acceptable, using that website.

The free site provides users with guidance and exercises that steer alcohol abusers towards a dryer lifestyle. Interestingly, 84% of the website’s users reported that it was the first time they had sought help for alcohol problems. It must be noted, though, that the results came from on online survey, which means the data may be suspect, depending on how it was conducted. That aside, this does show promise. Online resources are an inexpensive way to reach out to people who may otherwise never seek out help. A website like this surely will not replace therapists and addiction specialists entirely, but it is at least a good way to make more people aware that they might have a problem.

See the news story about the website here.