Addiction
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To describe the eye misalignments that occur during heroin use and heroin detoxification and to give an overview of the management of persisting diplopia (double vision) which results from eye misalignment. ⋯ Heroin use may lead to intermittent or constant exotropia and withdrawal may result in intermittent or constant esotropia. Awareness of the mechanism causing this may avoid referral to other specialties (e.g. neurology) and awareness of treatment modalities could encourage patients to seek appropriate help for relief of symptoms.
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Addiction has been conceptualized as a shift from controlled experimentation to uncontrolled, compulsive patterns of use. Current neurobiological models of addiction emphasize changes within the brain's reward system, such that drugs of abuse 'hijack' this system and bias behaviour towards further drug use. While this model explains the involuntary nature of craving and the motivational drive to continue drug use, it does not explain fully why some addicted individuals are unable to control their drug use when faced with potentially disastrous consequences. In this review, we argue that such maladaptive and uncontrolled behaviour is underpinned by a failure of the brain's inhibitory control mechanisms. ⋯ We propose that in chronically addicted individuals, maladaptive behaviours and high relapse rates may be better conceptualized as being 'compulsive' in nature as a result of dysfunction within inhibitory brain circuitry, particularly during symptomatic states. This model may help to explain why some addicts lose control over their drug use, and engage in repetitive self-destructive patterns of drug-seeking and drug-taking that takes place at the expense of other important activities. This model may also have clinical utility, as it allows for the adoption of treatments effective in other disorders of inhibitory dysregulation.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Evaluation of an injection depot formulation of buprenorphine: placebo comparison.
Buprenorphine is a mu-opioid partial agonist that is marketed in a sublingual formulation as a treatment for opioid dependence. A microcapsule depot sustained-release formulation has been developed which may offer effective treatment of opioid dependence while also minimizing risks of illicit diversion or patient non-compliance. The present study examined the efficacy of depot buprenorphine in suppressing the opioid withdrawal syndrome and in attenuating the effects of exogenous opioid challenge. ⋯ Results from this double-blind, placebo-controlled study indicate that depot buprenorphine is effective in providing both withdrawal suppression and opioid blockade. Future studies examining additional doses and repeated dosing regimens with depot buprenorphine are warranted.
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This paper analyses a partnership between an addiction agency and the drinks industry in Australia, with special reference to concerns held by public health advocates for such projects. ⋯ The partnership between the ADFQ and the drinks industry indicates the difficulty faced by addiction organizations in maintaining an uncompromising public health orientation when in partnership with the alcohol industry.
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To quantify the relationship between acute alcohol consumption and risk of injury, in the context of other potential confounding factors (i.e. usual alcohol intake, risk-taking behaviour and substance use-defined as prescription/over-the-counter medication or illicit substances), using three separate measures of alcohol consumption. ⋯ In this study, acute alcohol consumption significantly increased the risk of injury, even when situational and other risk factors were considered. However, the relationship between alcohol and injury appears confounded by usual drinking patterns, risk-taking behaviour and substance use. Therefore, these variables should be considered in any analysis of the alcohol-injury relationship, and also considered when developing public health strategies to reduce alcohol-related injury. Further research is required to elucidate the nature of this relationship, and to identify the effect of risk-taking and substance use on different types of injuries (e.g. mechanism of injury; body region injured) and injury severity. The stability of the models and the consistency of the findings across all measures of alcohol used support claims for the validity of the observed effects.