Addictive Properties of Hydrocodone: An Inside Look of Addiction Addiction is something that is brushed under the table and not a topic for the majority of people in the United states. While in fact it needs to be discussed when it causes 444,000 deaths every year (Gurung, 2016). That is a very large problem that needs to be discussed and ultimately addressed with a plan of action. Addiction to drugs is very difficult thing to deal with and realize for the user and one common form of addiction comes from prescription drugs (Caldwell, 2013). One of these specific drugs in Vicodin which contains the drug hydrocodone. Vicodin mixes hydrocodone with acetaminophen and serves as a pain killer (Caldwell, 2013). This study will focus on the purposes of using this drug, the influences it has, health implications, and intervention techniques. Vicodin is prescribed for one reason. That one reason is pain. Vicodin works on the opiate receptors in the body to help reduce pain levels (Caldwell, 2013). Many athletes are exposed to these drugs, especially on the college and professional level (Kalb, 2001). Athletes, as stated by this study, are inundated with these medications. Athletes are constantly pressured to perform at the highest level which puts them …show more content…
These symptoms also show the health hazards. Once the body begins taken Vicodin or any prescription drug, it begins to form a dependence which makes it very difficult to stop taking it. The symptoms the body experiences when suffering from addiction can help increase the intake of drug by the user. The worse they feel from the drug, the more they will end up taking the drug (Caldwell, 2013). In addition to this, the user must continually increase the doses in order to experience the same effect which can increase the users risk of an overdose which could result in death (Henry
On the typical day, over 90 people will die at the hand of opioid abuse in America alone (National). In fact, as of 2014, nearly 2 million Americans were dependent and abusing opioids. The Opioid Crisis has affected America and its citizens in various ways, including health policy, health care, and the life in populous areas. Due to the mass dependence and mortality, the crisis has become an issue that must be resolved in all aspects.
This is being done in hopes to decrease the number of overdose deaths that are occurring in West Virginia. The law does have restrictions. Those who buy naloxone OTC must be trained by a pharmacist on how to recognize an overdose, when to administer the antidote, and how to properly inject or inhale the drug. Pharmacies must also provide educational material telling customers how and where to access treatment programs (Brown, A., Para. 1, 2016). West Virginia being the number one state in overdose deaths, I personally believe that it is a good decision to pass this law. However, I think people should be trained properly on how to administer, when to administer, what to do, what signs to look for and how to respond. Narcan is a life savior and it should be readily available over the counter. Just because they have addiction or uses drug, they don’t deserve to die. If there is already a drug to save someone’s lives, why not use it. It is ridiculous how expensive the drug cost compared to other countries. Lower class and middle class people cannot afford to buy a drug for 500 to 600 dollars. I think it is a control by the big drug industries to make more money but being greedy is just hurting everyone. If country like Australia and Canada can sell cheap as a dollar, how come it costs 500-600 dollars in USA. People have stereotype belief that only druggies gets overdosed. However, it is not true. Older people who sometimes forget what medicines they took, light weight people who had never taken any drugs when started on pain medicines because of accidents or even though if it is overdose by someone trying to get high, saving life is a miracle. With the scientific achievement, people can make clone, skin graft, synthetic valves or many ways to save or repair human body, but no one can bring a soul back to a dead body. Many people doesn’t get overdosed to kill
The documentary states that over 27,000 deaths a year are due to overdose from heroin and other opioids. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in 2015 prescription pain relievers account for 20,101 overdose deaths, and 12,990 overdose deaths are related to heroin (Rudd et al., 2010-2015). The documentary’s investigation gives the history of how the heroin epidemic started, with a great focus on the hospice movement. We are presented with the idea that once someone is addicted to painkillers, the difficulty in obtaining the drug over a long period of time becomes too expensive and too difficult. This often leads people to use heroin. This idea is true as a 2014 survey found that 94% of respondents who were being treated for opioid addiction said they chose to use heroin because prescription opioids were “more expensive and harder to obtain (Cicero et al., 2014).” Four in five heroin users actually started out using prescription painkillers (Johns, 2013). This correlation between heroin and prescription painkiller use supports the idea presented in the documentary that “prescription opiates are heroin prep school.”
Almost one hundred years ago, prescription drugs like morphine were available at almost any general store. Women carried bottles of very addictive potent opiate based pain killers in their purse. Many individuals like Edgar Allen Poe died from such addictions. Since that time through various federal, state and local laws, drugs like morphine are now prescription drugs; however, this has not stopped the addiction to opiate based pain killers. Today’s society combats an ever increasing number of very deadly addictive drugs from designer drugs to narcotics to the less potent but equally destructive alcohol and marijuana. With all of these new and old drugs going in and out of vogue with addicts, it appears that the increase of misuse and abuse is founded greater in the prescription opiate based painkillers.
Painkillers have been used for many years, and they have been beneficial to many. But one that recently took the market has been the topic of many controversial discussions. Oxycodone has always been used in modern medicine but in small amounts. OxyContin contained a higher amount of oxycodone than most opiate based pain killers, the weakest dose of OxyContin had double the amount found in said painkillers (Meier 12). This lead to the spread of abuse and addiction towards the drug. And a medicine made to do nothing but help became the subject of overdose and death. The creation of OxyContin was a triumph for modern medicine and a halo of light to people with chronic pains, but this drug now seems to carry a trail of addiction and abuse along with it.
Opioids are used as pain relievers and although it does the job, there are adverse side effects. Opioids are frequently used in the medical field, allowing doctors to overprescribe their patients. The substance can be very addicting to the dosage being prescribed to the patient. Doctors are commonly prescribing opioids for patients who have mild, moderate, and severe pain. As the pain becomes more severe for the patient, the doctor is more likely to increase the dosage. The increasing dosages of the narcotics become highly addicting. Opioids should not be prescribed as pain killers, due to their highly addictive chemical composition, the detrimental effects on opioid dependent patients, the body, and on future adolescents. Frequently doctors have become carless which causes an upsurge of opioids being overprescribed.
The exception to steroid use should be only when they are being prescribed by a doctor for medical conditions. One of the main purposes of keeping athletes from using these drugs is simply for their own health benefits. Over the years there have been multiple cases in which the abuse of these drugs has caused...
Almost everybody on Long Island, and probably all around the world, has been prescribed a drug by a doctor before— whether it was to knock out a nasty virus, or relieve pain post injury or surgery. However, what many people don’t realize is that these drugs can have highly addictive qualities, and more and more people are becoming hooked, specifically teenagers. But when does harmlessly taking a prescription drug to alleviate pain take the turn into the downward spiral of abuse? The answer to that question would be when the user begins taking the drug for the “high” or good feelings brought along with it—certainly not what it was prescribed for (1). The amount of teens that abuse prescription medications has been rapidly increasing in recent
Every year, 2.6 million people in the United States suffer from opioid abuse and of that 2.6 million, 276,000 are adolescents, and this problem is only escalating. An individual’s physical and emotional health suffers as well as their personal lives as they lose employment, friends, family, and hope. Opioid addiction begins with the addictive aspects of the drug. People easily become hooked on the relieving effects of the opioids and suffer withdrawal symptoms if they stop using the drug completely because their nerve cells become accustomed to the drug and have difficulty functioning without it; yet the addiction to the drug is only one aspect of the complex problem. The stigma about opioid addiction has wide-reaching negative effects as it discourages people with opioid abuse problems from reaching out.
Stat also says that using opioids for just FIVE days can end up as long-term dependence, and classifies this as a disease, because it alters brain biology and produces withdrawal symptoms such as aches and pains, nausea, and tremors.
The rate of death due to prescription drug abuse in the U.S. has escalated 313 percent over the past decade. According to the Congressional Quarterly Transcription’s article "Rep. Joe Pitt Holds a Hearing on Prescription Drug Abuse," opioid prescription drugs were involved in 16,650 overdose-caused deaths in 2010, accounting for more deaths than from overdoses of heroin and cocaine. Prescribed drugs or painkillers sometimes "condemn a patient to lifelong addiction," according to Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This problem not only affects the lives of those who overdose but it affects the communities as well due to the convenience of being able to find these items in drug stores and such. Not to mention the fact that the doctors who prescribe these opioids often tend to misuse them as well. Abusing these prescribed drugs can “destroy dreams and abort great destinies," and end the possibility of the abuser to have a positive impact in the community.
The world involving drug addiction is a taboo topic to many. However, drug addiction is a very real topic that occurs worldwide. The widespread use of drugs is not restricted to the United States, with roughly five percent of the world’s population using in the past few months (Mosher & Akins, 2014). Many scientists, doctors, and specialists study addiction and try to find an explanation for why so many become addicted.
The Journal of Neuroscience Dobler-Mikola, A. Gschwed, P. Gutzwiller, F. Steffen, T. Rehm, J. Uch engagen, A. Feasibility, Safety, and Efficacy of Injectable Heroin Prescription for Refractory Opioid Addicts: a follow-up study. The Lancet, volume 358, pg. 1417-1420. Everitt, B. Robbins, T. (1999) Drug addiction: bad habits add up. Macmillian Magazines, volume 389, pg.
Today, drug use in sport has reached enormous proportions in society and is destroying athletics from the ground up. Nowhere is the problem more serious than in professional athletics, where athletes, coaches and trainers misuse drugs in search of ways to improve performance. Many athletes fail to take their time when making the decision whether to use drugs to their advantage. Unfortunately, athletes may use drugs for therapeutic indications, recreational or social reasons, as muscular aids or to mask the presence of other drugs during drug testing. But the safety of the athlete's health is being neglected.
Abuse can cause countless medical problems to the body. A person who is addicted will continue to stimulate themselves regardless if they are aware of the negative chain reactions. Once addicted, it becomes difficult to stop due to how the body has become dependent. Health will be harmed the more a stimulant is used. Health effects include: cardiovascular disease, strokes, cancer, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, lung disease, mental disease, birth defects. Mental health is what keeps a person in the right mind to make better decisions and have better control in life. Drugs have the ability to change mood and behavior. If drugs have affected the brain already, the desire increases which changes mental health. Some may not realize that they have been affected their health negatively. “A person who abuses drugs may not realize they have a problem until pronounced effects of drug abuse are seen, often physically. While drug abuse effects on the body vary depending on the drug used, all drug abuse negatively impacts one 's health (Addictions Community). Since drugs create many health issues, treatment is not a simple task. Treatments are hard to obtain and addictions often go