By Leo Beletsky, Elena Moroz
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Over the
past 20 years, the overall prevalence of fatal opioid overdose has tripled.
Historically, the risk of overdose among
men had been significantly higher; over the last decade, however prevalence of opioid
overdose deaths has been increasing faster among women than men. With the gender gap
decreasing, women now face a greater risk for opioid drug overdose than ever
before.
Women of all racial and socioeconomic backgrounds
are facing greater risk of overdose from opioid drugs. Recent data sheds light
on the role of pregnancy as one the possible channels for increasing opioid
dependence, which is a precursor to overdose. In the past, neonatal abstinence
syndrome had been documented primarily in underserved urban areas, it is
increasingly observed in hospitals across geographical and socioeconomic strata. However women who live in the South, Midwest
and the East appear to be at an elevated risk than those in the West of the
United States. Overdose is most common among middle aged
women (45-55 years old).
There has been a lot of attention to opiate overdose prevention and naloxone in the press lately! Here's the latest piece from the New York Times, which makes mention of the fact that it's not only the U.S. that distributes naloxone to drug users - lots of other countries have programs too.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/health/27overdose.html?ref=health
Kits Using Naloxone Revive Addicts After Opiate Overdose
By JASCHA HOFFMAN
Next to car crashes, opiate overdoses are the leading cause of accidental death in the United States. In Europe, a lethal overdose occurs every hour. In poorer countries the problem is harder to measure, but in some places it is most likely even worse. When a person overdoses on opiates, his breathing becomes shallow and may eventually stop. Friends may be afraid to call an ambulance for fear of arrest. In remote areas, an ambulance may come too late, after oxygen deprivation has caused brain damage or death. Yet naloxone, a medicine that blocks opiate receptors, can revive even the most catatonic drug users. Used for decades by surgeons and paramedics, the drug has been shown to work when administered by bystanders in American cities. Recently groups in Eastern Europe and Central Asia have been distributing “overdose rescue kits,” which usually contain two doses of naloxone and two syringes. These groups may operate in a legal gray area by training addicts and their families to administer the drug themselves in the event of an overdose. Aside from saving lives, the kits give addicts a reason to return to treatment centers, where they may receive H.I.V. testing or counseling. In China, hot line operators dispatch rescue kits via motorcycle to desperate callers. In Afghanistan, an overdose rescue program relies on the same “skilled injectors” whom addicts pay to shoot them up with heroin. A shot of naloxone runs about $6 in the United States, but in most other countries the cost is below $2 and can be as little as a quarter. Global distribution of the drug as a nasal spray may make the kits even more practical.
