Page 14 - Delaware Medical Journal - May 2016
P. 14
Patients with a Substance Use Disorder Need Treatment – Not Stigma
AMA Task Force to Reduce Opioid Abuse
Junkie. Stoner. Crackhead.
We’ve all heard the terms used to describe those individuals who struggle with drug addiction. These terms are dismissive of a bygone era when our understanding of addiction was limited, when many thought that addiction was some sort of moral failing and should be a source of shame. We need to change the national discussion. Put simply, individuals with substance use disorders are our patients who need treatment. Mental Health Month is a good time to remember this important fact – and to ensure we carry the message throughout the year.
– also referred to as substance use disorder – is a chronic disease of the brain. It is a disease that can be treated –
and treated successfully. No one chooses to develop this disease. Instead, a combination of genetic predisposition and environmental stimulus – analogous to other chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension – can result in physical changes to the brain’s circuitry, which lead to tolerance,
cravings, and the characteristic compulsive and destructive behaviors of addiction that are such a large public health burden for our nation.
Consider that every day, 78 Americans die as a result of prescription opioid and heroin overdose, and the rate of heroin-related overdose deaths increased dramatically and claimed 10,574 lives in 2014. In addition to these tragic pediatric exposures and poisonings. There has been a distressing rise in neonatal abstinence syndrome as a result of women being exposed to opioids during pregnancy. Misuse by older adults also has become an increasing concern. The rate of opioid-related hospital admissions has increased Because of higher rates of substance use disorders in the current “baby boomer” cohort, illicit and nonmedical drug use among older adults is expected to increase in the future. The bottom line is that physicians must lead the nation in changing the tide of this epidemic.
The Medical Society of Delaware and the AMA Task
People with a substance use disorder deserve to be treated like any other patient with a medical disease, and physicians are helping the nation understand how to do this.
