As I have mentioned in several of my previous articles, addiction to opiates is chronic disease of the brain and should be managed as such. It is usually the result of a combination of by genetic, psychosocial and environmental factors that ultimately lead to the development of this relapsing disease. Now that we agree that it is a disease shouldnt we treat it as such?
Unfortunately, although many of the professionals working in the addiction field agree with this fact they still adopt of the mind set of our great grandfathers who looked down on those patients and considered addiction as an immoral sin and that addicts should repent.
In the past few months 100s of fatalities spread across the nation from heroin overdose. The states most affected by those tragedies included Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Missouri, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland. This surge in fatalities was due to
Fentanyl Laced heroin! A new tactic adopted by drug dealers to drag people into their webs.
Patients who face the disease of addiction to painkillers have a few options to choose from. I will briefly touch on most of them but will focus on the 2 modalities that are mentioned above.
In my view the treatment options are divided into 3 main categories: 1-medically monitered withdrawal (i.e. detox), 2-maintenance therapy, 3-non-medicated recovery.
Dr. A. Fahmy .
Board Certified in Internal Medicine.
Board certified in Palliative Medicine.
Certified in Addiction Medicine.
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