Opioids are the most common modern analgesics because they help patients deal with pain after surgery or during the treatment of cancer and other diseases. In contrast, opioids also cause addiction and dependence. The main problem is that opioids rapidly cause dependence, which results in destruction of a human’s health.
Opioids are psychoactive drugs that improve the human condition, but it causes destruction to a human health and stimulates addicts to take part in criminal activities. Opioids were used for medical purposes in ancient practice nearly 6000 years ago. At first, opioids were considered a godsend because it provided unprecedented opportunities to relieve pain in patients. Opium is one of the species of the poppy plant that provides relief when the patient consumes it orally or smokes it. It is believed that opioids produce effects by stimulating activity in endorphin systems. Nowadays people are aware of the danger of opiate dependence and they have created new laws for opioid use. Thus, laws proclaim that heroin and other opioids shouldn’t be prescribed for addicts and opiate doses should be decreased over time. Such changes were implemented because researchers realized that addicts also tend to be involved in criminal activity because cost of opioids is high enough. Later, they are forced to take part in criminal activities to maintain the habit. (Tarbuck, Lutgens, 2014)
Talking about the negative influence of opioids it should be noted that they reduce the perception of pain but cause mental problems, euphoria, nausea, constipation, and other problems. For example, opioids such as heroin and similar pain relievers can cause negative health effects in people who misuse them. As a result, people experience a euphoric response to opioids and constantly want to experience such feelings and even intensify them. Overdoses with opioids cause deaths of men and women. Addicts constantly have the desire for opioids, and they are unable to reduce their use, spend a lot of time trying to get opioids and they are rarely able to stop using opioids. (Substance Use Disorders, 2015).
Opioid misuse is an acute problem nowadays. Researchers report that nearly 2.4 million people in the U.S. have a disorder because of prescription opioids. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration even adopted medications to treat addiction: methadone, naltrexone, and buprenorphine. Considering a great number of hospitalization rates, post-discharge treatment is an important thing in preventing and treatment addicted patients. On the other hand, people suffering from opioid dependence often refuse to be hospitalized therefore, there should be provided researchers to realize why they refuse to do it. (Ali, Mutter, 2016)
References
Ali, M., and Mutter, R. (2016). The CBHSQ Report: Patients Who Are Privately Insured Receive
Limited Follow-up Services After Opioid-Related Hospitalizations. SAMHSA. Web. 30
Substance Use Disorders (2015). SAMHSA. Web. 30 June 2016.
Tarbuck, E., and Lutgens, F. (2014). Earth: An Introduction to Physical Geology. Boston:
Pearson. Print.
Opioids (2016). SAMHSA. Web. 30 June 2016.
