DRUG ALCOHOL AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE : WOMEN: MEDICAL AND HEALTH: NIH Podcast Shines Light On Prescription Drug Abuse In Women

[David P. Dillard]

.


DRUG ALCOHOL AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE :
WOMEN: MEDICAL AND HEALTH:
NIH Podcast Shines Light On Prescription Drug Abuse In Women




Date: Tue, 4 May 2010 09:41:52 -0400
From: "NIH OLIB (NIH/OD)" <ol...@od.nih.gov>
To: NIHP...@list.nih.gov
Subject: NIH Podcast Shines Light On Prescription Drug Abuse In Women



U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH NIH News




NIH Office of the Director (OD)
<http://www.nih.gov/icd/od/>



Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH)
<http://orwh.od.nih.gov>



For Immediate Release: Tuesday, May 4, 2010




CONTACT:


Dorie Hightower

301-402-1770

e-mail:

dor...@nih.gov




NIH PODCAST SHINES LIGHT ON PRESCRIPTION DRUG ABUSE IN WOMEN





Prescription drug abuse means taking a prescription medication that is not
prescribed for you, or taking it for reasons or in dosages other than as
prescribed. Abuse of prescription drugs can produce serious health
effects, including addiction. In 2008, according to the National Survey
on Drug Use and Health, 15.2 million Americans age 12 and older had taken
a prescription pain reliever, tranquilizer, stimulant, or sedative for
nonmedical purposes at least once in the year prior to being surveyed.



The NIH's Office of Research on Women's Health podcast, "Pinn Point on
Women's Health," provides updates on women's health research, and is
hosted by Vivian W. Pinn, M.D., director of NIH's Office of Research on
Women's Health. This month, Dr. Pinn interviewed Nora Volkow, M.D.,
director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).



Dr. Volkow stated that it is important to understand the sex and
gender-based differences regarding drug abuse in order to better target
prevention and treatment approaches.



"In general, males tend to take more drugs than females. The exception is
the period of time between 12 and 17 years of age. There, we see a higher
rate of abuse of most drugs, including psychotherapeutics, among girls
than among boys," Dr. Volkow said.



Drugs of abuse also include pain medications that contain opiates, such as
Vicodin or OxyContin, as well as stimulant medications, which are used to
treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Dr. Volkow noted that
adolescent girls have almost 60 to 70 percent higher rates of abuse of
these substances than adolescent boys.



"Adolescents and young adults take stimulant medications to improve
cognitive performance, to study for an exam, or to prepare for something
that requires a deadline involving intense work," Dr. Volkow said. In
addition, girls take stimulants in order to lose weight. Stimulant
medications are anorexigenic; meaning, they reduce feelings of hunger.



Not surprisingly, prescription drug abuse can result in addiction. Dr.
Volkow has conducted imaging studies that show how repeated drug use
affects the brain.



"Not only are there disruptions in the circuits involved in reward (the
ability to feel pleasure), and learning; but also in frontal areas of the
brain that are involved with executive control and that enable you to make
decisions, to judge, to control your desires and your emotions," Dr.
Volkow said.



There exists a misguided belief that abuse of prescription drugs is less
dangerous than that of illicit substances because they are prescribed by
physicians. "When you take psychotherapeutics outside the surveillance of
a physician, these medications can be as dangerous as illicit substances,"
Dr. Volkow said. She noted the importance of educating both the public as
well as the health care system about how these drugs work, under what
conditions their use is beneficial and under what conditions their use can
lead to adverse medical consequences.



Treatment for addiction will depend on the type of psychotherapeutic used.
"For opiate analgesics, we have medications that look quite promising.
We're currently conducting a trial to investigate the use of buprenorphine
in the treatment of addiction to opiate analgesics, and the results appear
to be quite promising," Dr. Volkow said.



There are also several evidence based behavioral interventions that
include motivation intervention strategies, incentive intervention
strategies, and group therapy intervention strategies that have been shown
to be effective. For information on treatment options in your area, go to



<http://www.samhsa.gov/>


or call


1-800-662-HELP


(1-800-662-4357)



To hear Dr. Pinn's podcasts, visit the Office of Research on Women's
Health home page at



<http://orwh.od.nih.gov>



and click on "Prescription Drug Abuse" under Podcasts.


Information on how to use podcasts, is available at



<http://videocast.nih.gov/faq/podcast/default.asp>





The National Institute on Drug Abuse is a component of the National
Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIDA
supports most of the world's research on the health aspects of drug abuse
and addiction. The Institute carries out a large variety of programs to
inform policy and improve practice. Fact sheets on the health effects of
drugs of abuse and information on NIDA research and other activities can
be found on the NIDA home page at




<http://www.drugabuse.gov>




The Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH), Office of the Director,
National Institutes of Health (NIH) serves as a focal point for women's
health research at the NIH. For more information about NIH's Office of
Research on Women's Health, visit




<http://orwh.od.nih.gov/>



The National Institutes of Health (NIH) -- The Nation's Medical Research
Agency -- includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal
agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational
medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures
for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its
programs, visit




<http://www.nih.gov>.




##




This NIH News Release is available online at:
<http://www.nih.gov/news/health/may2010/od-04.htm>








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