A robust 20 papers this
month. There are some excellent manuscripts this month, including several on fentanyl. I want to draw
particular attention to a few papers that will be important reads for some of you: #1 addresses concurrent use of methamphetamine
with heroin, #12 explores different “types” of opioid overdose, #17 reviews the foundational papers upon which much overdose research/knowledge
today is based, and #19 compares deaths due to heroin to those due to
prescription opioids.
Meacham MC, Strathdee
SA, Rangel G, Armenta RF, Gaines TL, Garfein RS.
J Stud Alcohol Drugs. 2016 Sep;77(5):774-81.
Comments: Really
interesting results with regard to methamphetamine – co-use of methamphetamine
increased overdose risk in San Diego but not Tijuana, suggesting that risk may
have been behavioral rather than pharmacologic.
Mitchell KD, Higgins LJ.
J Addict Nurs. 2016 Jul-Sep;27(3):160-79. doi:
10.1097/JAN.0000000000000132.
Comments: Review of
naloxone literature with an eye toward how it influences nursing.
Al-Tayyib AA, Koester S,
Riggs P.
Addict Behav. 2016 Aug 19. pii:
S0306-4603(16)30296-9. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2016.08.016. [Epub ahead of print]
Comments: Those who
initiated injection with prescription opioids were higher risk than those who
started with heroin in the Denver Colorado’s NHBS cohort.
Kirane H, Ketteringham
M, Bereket S, Dima R, Basta A, Mendoza S, Hansen H.
J Subst Abuse Treat. 2016 Oct;69:44-9. doi:
10.1016/j.jsat.2016.07.005. Epub 2016 Jul 18.
Comments: Investigators
asked patients and providers how they thought things *would* change if they
gave/received naloxone kits and found quite a few thought use would increase.
In contrast, looking at what “did” happen suggests the opposite (see next month’s
PubMed Update).
