By Dr. Mercola
Deaths caused by overdosing on painkillers now surpass
murders and fatal car accidents in the US. America's rising drug
problem recently received renewed attention following the death
of Philip Seymour Hoffman.1
The 46-year-old Oscar-winning actor died from a heroin
overdose on February 2. Last year, Hoffman entered rehab when
addiction to prescription painkillers led him to switch to
heroin. US officials now acknowledge that narcotic painkillers
are in fact a driving force in the rise of substance
abuse and lethal overdoses.
Over the past five years alone, heroin deaths have increased
by 45 percent2--an
increase that officials blame on the rise of addictive
prescription drugs such as Vicodin, OxyContin, Percocet,
codeine, and Fentora, all of which are opioids.
The reason for the resurgence of heroin is in large part due
to it being less expensive than its prescription counterparts.
According to Gil Kerlikowske, director of the U.S. Office of
National Drug Control Policy:3
"The use of opioids -- a group of drugs that includes
heroin and prescription painkillers -- is having a
devastating impact on public health and safety in
communities across the nation.
In 2010, approximately 100 Americans died from
overdoses every day. Prescription painkillers were involved
in more than 16,600 deaths that year, and heroin was
involved in about 3,000 deaths."
Prescription Medications Are the New Gateway Drugs
Many are still under the illusion that prescription drugs are
somehow safer than street drugs, but it's important to realize
that prescription medications like hydrocodone and oxycodone are
opioids—just like heroin.
As explained by Dr. Wilson Compton,4
deputy director of the US National Institute on Drug Abuse,
heroin, morphine, hydrocodone, and oxycodone "are all classified
as opioids because they exert their effect by attaching to the
opioid receptor found in our brain and spinal cord."
They also create a temporary feeling of euphoria, followed by
dysphoria, which can easily lead to addiction. Some people end
up taking increasingly larger doses in order to regain the
euphoric effect, or escape the unhappiness caused by withdrawal.
Others find they need to continue taking the drugs not only to
reduce withdrawal symptoms but to simply feel normal.
Opioids also depress your heart rate and breathing. Large
doses can cause sedation and slowed breathing to the point that
breathing stops altogether, resulting in death.5
According to a 2013 US Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration report, nearly 80 percent of
people who recently started using heroin had previously used
prescription painkillers. As reported by WebMD:6
"To break this link, the federal government has begun
to crack down on 'pill mills' and doctors who over-prescribe
narcotic painkillers. It has also developed education
programs for doctors and patients on prescribing painkillers
and disposing of unused prescriptions."
Shocking Report: More Than 14 Percent of Pregnant Women
Prescribed Opioids!
Do you ever occasionally wonder about the fantastic lack of
common sense among prescribing physicians? According to one
recent study,7
more than 14 percent of pregnant women were prescribed opioid
drugs during their pregnancy.
The paper called for more research to assess the risks to the
fetus, in light of such surprisingly high prescription rates.
But truly, knowing the risks involved in adults, how
could anyone in their right mind imagine the risks to an unborn
child might be anything but harmful?
Back pain—a problem most pregnant women have to deal with—was
the most commonly cited reason for the prescription. Narcotics
were also prescribed for complaints of abdominal pains,
migraine, joint pains, and fibromyalgia. As reported by Medical
News Today:8
"The study looked at data from a research database of
more than 530,000 pregnant women enrolled in a commercial
insurance plan who delivered their babies between 2005 and
2011. Their median age was 31... Of the more than 530,000
pregnant women, 76,742, or 14.4 percent, were prescribed
opioids at some point in their pregnancy...
[A] US National Birth Defects Prevention Study
(1997-2005) found associations between codeine and other
opioids with birth defects, including atrial and ventricular
septal defects, hypoplastic left heart syndrome, spina
bifida, and gastroschisis in newborns. Additionally, the US
national study cites that when opioids are used long-term
during pregnancy, 'there is a known risk for neonatal opioid
dependence and subsequent withdrawal symptoms in the first
few days of life.'"
FDA Finally Clamps Down on Painkiller Prescriptions
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently
recommended tighter controls on painkiller prescriptions,9,
10 and has announced its intention to reclassify
hydrocodone-containing painkillers from a Schedule III to a
Schedule II drug. The drug schedule system classifies
medications based on their potential for abuse and addiction, as
well as other medical criteria.
The reclassification will affect how hydrocodone-containing
drugs can be prescribed and refilled. Doctors will only be
allowed to prescribe a 90-day supply of the drug per
prescription, and they will no longer be permitted to phone in
refills; rather the patient has to bring the prescription with
them to the pharmacy.
The new regulations are expected to take effect sometime this
year. Ironically enough, while talking about the need for
stricter controls and less addictive painkillers, it recently
approved the first drug containing pure hydrocodone for
the US market, called Zohydro ER (Zogenix). All other
hydrocodone-containing painkillers on the market are mixed with
other non-addictive ingredients. Zohydro ER was approved for
patients who need around-the-clock pain relief. As reported by
Bloomberg at the end of October last year:11
"The approval came as a surprise since an FDA panel
of outside advisers gave the drug an overwhelmingly negative
review last year. The panel of pain specialists voted 11-2,
with one abstention, against approving the drug. It
questioned the need for a new form of one of most
widely-abused prescription drugs in the United States. The
approval also came a day after the FDA said it would support
stronger restrictions on combination drugs containing
hydrocodone."
Do You Really Need a Narcotic Pain Killer?
I strongly recommend exhausting your options before resorting
to a narcotic pain reliever. It's quite clear that these drugs
are being overprescribed, and can easily lead you into addiction
and other, more illicit drug use. I strongly suspect that the
overreliance on them as a first line of defense for
pain is a major part of the problem. Remember, no
matter what type of painkiller you choose, it will come with
potentially serious risks to your health. I believe there are
better alternatives. If you are suffering from pain, whether
acute or chronic, I recommend working with a knowledgeable
health care practitioner to determine what's really
triggering your pain, and then address the underlying cause.
Remember, along with exposing you to potentially deadly risks,
medications only provide symptomatic relief. They do NOT address
the underlying cause of your pain.
13 Non-Drug Solutions for Pain Relief
The following options provide excellent pain relief without
any of the health hazards that prescription (and even
over-the-counter) painkillers carry. If you are in pain, try
these first, before even thinking about prescription
painkillers of any kind.
- Eliminate or radically reduce processed foods,
grains, and sugars from your diet. Avoiding grains
and sugars will lower your insulin and leptin levels and
decrease insulin and leptin resistance, which is one of the
most important reasons why inflammatory prostaglandins are
produced. That is why stopping sugar and sweets is so
important to controlling your pain and other types of
chronic illnesses.
- Start taking a high-quality, animal-based
omega-3
fat. My personal favorite is krill oil. Omega-3
fats are precursors to mediators of inflammation called
prostaglandins. (In fact, that is how anti-inflammatory
painkillers work; they manipulate prostaglandins.)
- Optimize your production of
vitamin D
by getting regular, appropriate sun or safe tanning bed
exposure, which will work through a variety of different
mechanisms to reduce your pain.
- Emotional
Freedom Technique (EFT) is a drug-free approach
for pain management of all kinds. EFT borrows from the
principles of acupuncture, in that it helps you balance out
your subtle energy system. It helps resolve underlying,
often subconscious, negative emotions that may be
exacerbating your physical pain. By stimulating (tapping)
well-established acupuncture points with your fingertips,
you rebalance your energy system, which tends to dissipate
pain.
- Astaxanthin is one of the most
effective fat-soluble antioxidants known. It has very potent
anti-inflammatory properties and in many cases works far
more effectively than anti-inflammatory drugs. Higher doses
are typically required and one may need 8 mg or more per day
to achieve this benefit.
- Ginger: This herb has potent
anti-inflammatory activity and offers pain relief and
stomach-settling properties. Fresh ginger works well steeped
in boiling water as a tea or grated into vegetable juice.
-
Curcumin: In a study
of osteoarthritis patients, those who added 200 mg of
curcumin a day to their treatment plan had reduced pain and
increased mobility.12
A past study also found that a turmeric extract composed of
curcuminoids blocked inflammatory pathways, effectively
preventing the overproduction of a protein that triggers
swelling and pain.13
- Boswellia: Also known as boswellin or
"Indian frankincense," this herb contains specific active
anti-inflammatory ingredients. This is one of my personal
favorites as I have seen it work well with many rheumatoid
arthritis patients.
- Bromelain: This enzyme, found in
pineapples, is a natural anti-inflammatory. It can be taken
in supplement form but eating fresh pineapple, including
some of the bromelain-rich stem, may also be helpful.
- Cetyl Myristoleate (CMO): This oil,
found in fish and dairy butter, acts as a "joint lubricant"
and an anti-inflammatory. I have used this for myself to
relieve ganglion cysts and a mild annoying carpal tunnel
syndrome that pops up when I type too much on non-ergonomic
keyboards. I used a topical preparation for this.
- Evening Primrose, Black Currant, and Borage
Oils: These contain the essential fatty acid gamma
linolenic acid (GLA), which is useful for treating arthritic
pain.
- Cayenne Cream: Also called capsaicin
cream, this spice comes from dried hot peppers. It
alleviates pain by depleting the body's supply of substance
P, a chemical component of nerve cells that transmits pain
signals to your brain.
- Methods such as yoga,
Foundation Training, acupuncture, meditation,14
hot and cold packs, and other
mind-body techniques can also result in
astonishing pain relief without any drugs.
© Copyright 1997-2014 Dr. Joseph Mercola. All Rights Reserved.