Nonprescription medication abuse underestimated

New ToxIC study identifies current drug poisoning trends

2012-10-04

(Press-News.org) Nonprescription medications are just as likely a cause of poisoning as prescription drugs, according to a new study by Timothy Wiegand, M.D. from the University of Rochester Medical Center in the US and colleagues. Their work, which analyzes the data from the second annual report of the Toxicology Investigators Consortium (ToxIC), is published online in Springer's Journal of Medical Toxicology.

In 2010, the American College of Medical Toxicology established its case registry, ToxIC, which acts as a real-time surveillance system to identify current poisoning trends, and is a powerful research tool in medical toxicology. All cases evaluated by medical toxicologists at participating institutions in the US are entered into the database. Wiegand and colleagues analyzed the 2011 data from 28 participating centers.

They found that of the 10,392 cases entered into the registry, 53 percent involved patients in emergency departments. The most common reason for consultation with a toxicologist was for pharmaceutical overdoses, which occurred in 48 percent of patients - a combination of intentional overdoses in 37 percent of patients and unintentional in 11 percent of patients. Sleeping pills, muscle relaxants, non-opioid pain relievers (such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen), opioid pain relievers and antidepressants were the most common medications accounting for the consultation.

In addition, there were 35 deaths from medication overdose in 2011, ten of which were attributed to opioids and eight to non-opioid pain relievers. The researchers also observed that cases involving designer drugs, such as psychoactive "bath salts" and synthetic cannabinoids, increased substantially from 2010 to 2011.

Dr. Wiegand concludes: "Much of the current concerns about prescription medication abuse have centered on opioids, and while opioids are certainly of greater concern in regard to morbidity and mortality related to overdose, the data reported here suggest that emphasis should also be placed on sleeping pills. Our data also suggest that while medication abuse is a major problem, restricting our concerns to prescription drug abuse fails to acknowledge the major contribution of nonprescription agents to healthcare resource utilization."

### Reference Wiegand TJ et al (2012). The Toxicology Invetigators Consortium Case registry - the 2011 experience. Journal of Medical Toxicology; DOI 10.1007/s13181-012-0264-9

The full-text article is available to journalists on request.

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Study reveals how bicultural consumers respond to marketing cues

2012-10-04

NEW YORK - October 4, 2012 - Consider a Japanese-American woman strolling through a mall. If she passes by a UNIQLO store, is she more likely to opt for sushi than a hamburger when she reaches the food court? Would this cue of Japanese culture draw out her Japanese side? The answer, according to new research from Columbia Business School's Michael Morris, the Chavkin-Chang Professor of Leadership, and Aurelia Mok, Assistant Professor, City University of Hong Kong (she received her Ph.D. from Columbia Business School in 2010), depends on the degree to which she has integrated ...

A molecular scissor related to Alzheimer's disease

2012-10-04

This press release is available in Spanish.An international research team led by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and researchers from Kiel University revealed the atomic‐level structure of the human peptidase enzyme meprin β (beta). The study was published online in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "Now that we know how meprin β looks, how it works and how it relates to diseases, we can search for substances that stop its enzyme activities when they become harmful", explains Xavier Gomis‐Rüth, researcher at ...

NYU researchers find electricity in biological clock

2012-10-04

Biologists from New York University have uncovered new ways our biological clock's neurons use electrical activity to help keep behavioral rhythms in order. The findings, which appear in the journal Current Biology, also point to fresh directions for exploring sleep disorders and related afflictions. "This process helps explain how our biological clocks keep such amazingly good time," said Justin Blau, an associate professor of biology at NYU and one of the study's authors. Blau added that the findings may offer new pathways for exploring treatments to sleep disorders ...

Shoulder dislocation in older patients poses different challenges in diagnosis, treatment

2012-10-04

ROSEMONT, Ill.—Although shoulder dislocation can occur at about the same rates in both younger and older patients, injuries in older patients are more likely to be overlooked or misdiagnosed, resulting in years of persistent pain and disability. A new study published in the October 2012 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons examines the differences in dislocation injuries between older and younger patients and suggests an approach to evaluate older patients that could help improve diagnosis and management of interrelated injuries. Study ...

Researchers develop a scale to measure parent-teacher communication at the K-12 level

2012-10-04

Communication between K-12 teachers and parents has become increasingly prevalent in recent years. Parent-teacher communication represents a primary form of parental support or involvement, elements which have recently received much attention given the connections between parental support and academic achievement. In fact, parental involvement at the K-12 level represents a major component in recent education policies at the national level. Joseph Mazer, assistant professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Clemson University and and Blair Thompson, assistant ...

Are inhaled medications effective and safe in critically ill patients on mechanical ventilation?

2012-10-04

New Rochelle, NY, October 4, 2012—Essential medications can be delivered as inhaled drugs to critically ill patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) who require mechanical ventilation to breathe. Aerosol drug delivery is highly complex, however, and if not done properly the medication will not reach the lungs and therapy will be ineffective. The efficacy and safety of aerosol delivery of drugs commonly used in the ICU such as antibiotics, diuretics, and anticoagulants is explored in depth in a review article published in Journal of Aerosol Medicine and Pulmonary Drug Delivery, ...

What makes self-directed learning effective?

2012-10-04

In recent years, educators have come to focus more and more on the importance of lab-based experimentation, hands-on participation, student-led inquiry, and the use of "manipulables" in the classroom. The underlying rationale seems to be that students are better able to learn when they can control the flow of their experience, or when their learning is "self-directed." While the benefits of self-directed learning are widely acknowledged, the reasons why a sense of control leads to better acquisition of material are poorly understood. Some researchers have highlighted ...

Toward an artificial pancreas: Math modeling and diabetes control

2012-10-04

Philadelphia, PA – October 4, 2012—Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease in which individuals exhibit high levels of sugar in the blood, either due to insufficient production of insulin—the hormone that allows glucose to be absorbed by body cells—or the body's lack of response to insulin. Type 1 diabetes occurs due to loss or dysfunction of β-cells of the pancreas, the organ that produces insulin. Type 2 diabetes is caused by a defective glucose-insulin regulatory system. The most common control for diabetes is by subcutaneous injection of insulin analogues through ...

Advanced surgical approaches may benefit elderly patients with colorectal, bladder cancers

2012-10-04

CHICAGO—Advanced surgical techniques such as robotic-assisted operations and minimally invasive surgical procedures may extend survival and improve recovery in octogenarians with bladder and colorectal cancers when compared with patients who undergo conventional open operations according to two new studies presented at the 2012 Annual Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons. Boston University investigators found robotic-assisted bladder procedures may be a viable option in selected patients aged 80 years and older who would not otherwise have an operation ...

Penn-developed mouse model of debilitating lung disease suggests potential treatment regimen

2012-10-04

PHILADELPHIA – LAM, short for pulmonary lymphangioleiomyomatosis, affects about 1 in 10,000 women of childbearing age and is characterized by proliferation of smooth muscle-like cells in the lung, destruction of lung tissue, and growth of lymphatic vessels. The disease manifests itself in a wide variety of ways, so it is sometimes difficult to diagnose and there is no cure. The disease is caused by inactivation of either of two genes, TSC1 or TSC2, but to date no animal model has been able to replicate the pathologic features those mutations produce in humans. Now, ...

Chronic alcohol use reshapes gene expression in key human brain regions linked to relapse vulnerability and neural damage

Construction of a localized immune niche via supramolecular hydrogel vaccine to elicit durable and enhanced immunity against infectious diseases

Deep learning-based discovery of tetrahydrocarbazoles as broad-spectrum antitumor agents and click-activated strategy for targeted cancer therapy

DHL-11, a novel prieurianin-type limonoid isolated from Munronia henryi, targeting IMPDH2 to inhibit triple-negative breast cancer

Discovery of SARS-CoV-2 PLpro inhibitors and RIPK1 inhibitors with synergistic antiviral efficacy in a mouse COVID-19 model

Neg-entropy is the true drug target for chronic diseases

Oxygen-boosted dual-section microneedle patch for enhanced drug penetration and improved photodynamic and anti-inflammatory therapy in psoriasis

Around the world, children’s cooperative behaviors and norms converge toward community-specific norms in middle childhood, Boston College researchers report

Nonprescription medication abuse underestimated

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: