Research Paper On Opioids

For millennia, chronic and acute severe pain treatment has been effective with opioids and in most places, they are a standard care. Conversely, continued opioid uses have brought about concerns on its safety, abuse liability and effectiveness which drive warning perceptions leading to a higher degree of the willingness to approve this treatment means. In the United States, the past decades have witnessed the shift of attitudes in response to epidemiological and clinical observations manifested in the regulatory and legal spheres.1,2The legitimate medical opioids use for analgesia purposes and abuse or addiction interface challenges the clinical profession hence uncertainty on the appropriate opioid role in pain treatment. The National Institute
on Drug Abuse (NIDA) classifies opioids as both illegal and pain relievers where heroin and oxycodone are examples respectively. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has a deep concern on the growing abuse of opioid, its overdose and dependence and has sought to establish a comprehensive action plan to reduce abuse of opioid. The neurobiology of opioids as well as the abuse and analgesia interface complex issues affect insulin sensitivity in patients with diabetes hence is worth investigation by medical practitioners2.
In empowering healthcare professionals to make responsive, economically sound and accurate decisions in all diabetic patient care stages, MedlinePlus details curated consumer health information on oxycodone use in diabetic patients. ClinicalTrials.gov details that the use of opioids has a profound immediate effect on diabetic condition monitoring like hyperglycaemia, diabetic ketoacidosis and hypoglacaemia.3
Literature review
In the society we live in as healthcare providers, opioids play a key role.
Their association with dire diversion consequences, abuse and addiction make them widely feared compounds despite of the fact that they can be applied as medications in effective suffering and pain relief. Oxycodone is an opiate analgesic and a narcotic pain reliever for severe to moderate pain which can be found as a combination in nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory ibuprofen, aspirin and acetaminophen drugs.3-5 Opioids work in the patient’s brain altering pathways for pain and pain sensation. One drug that contains the opioid is the Oxycontin which is a timed release of oxycodone thus have high abuse propensity consequently patients tend to end up misusing it after the first use. Growing concerns on opioid addiction have added to the under-treatment of disorders appropriate for the therapy of opioids. However, in spite of the advances in the wider application of opioids and pain medicine, controversy remains on the use of such drugs in people with
diabetes.4
The description of any opioid-containing drug has its literature well indicated that the opioid might affect the patient’s blood sugar in case suffering from diabetes and that they should closely monitor their blood sugar levels. The message goes further that diabetic patients should consult the doctor for usage instructions on the opioids.5 Research shows that opioids constantly affect patients with low blood glucose level whereby a milder opioid dosage has a higher risk of lowering the blood sugar lever to dangerously low levels in both people suffering from diabetes and those who do not suffer from the disease. This has seen occurrence of hypoglycemia within the first thirty days of usage.5-8 In the body, pain increases stress which in turn causes stress hormone release which is mostly cortisol helping somewhat in controlling high blood sugars. If this is combined with a decreased activity level, opioid containing drugs makes diabetic patients sleepy and the consumption propensity for more carbohydrates leads to destruction of self-management of diabetes.6
It is agreed that opioids like Oxycodone relief pain or dull a patient’s perception to it which in turn occurs that diabetic patients develop a decreased perception of what is required of them to manage their diabetes. This leads to patients neglecting self-care and missing insulin injections or eat sugary foods while still taking insulin.3-8 Consequently, it puts the patient at an alarmed low blood sugar level risk, diabetic ketoacidosis and high blood glucose. Further, research has shown that opioid narcotics will cause a change in the food taste to someone preferring sweet foods and these should be known by people who suffer from diabetes and are still taking opioids which will make them extra diligent in controlling the apathy leading to missing treatments, injections and meals. In the hormonal system, opioids stimulate the release of hormones glucagon and insulin as they suppress other body hormones.7 Therefore, long and wrong opioids usage in form of drugs like Oxycodone raises the level of insulin resistance which is inactivity and weight gain linked.
Conclusion
With this respect, diabetic patients need to have their people close to keep reminding them to take medication, eat regularly and check the blood sugar levels often so as to avoid opioid related conditions like diabetic ketoacidosis or hyperglycemia.8 The agencies concerned needs to avail alternative medication for relieving pain in patients with diabetes other than opioids in reducing pain.
If it is necessarily, opioids must be used with caution only for the shortest time period so as to avoid addiction as well as withdrawal symptoms that are related upon continuous use of the opioids. A physician may be prompted to prescribe meditation, physical therapy, relaxation and massage therapy so as to help patients with diabetes to decrease pain instead of using opioids. Concerned bodies may find it imperative to advance research agendas which may lead to methods that enhance relief of pain so as to reduce addiction and adverse effects upon selection of opioids as therapy for diabetic patients8. The testing of novel medications preferably safer like buprenorphine for select patients followed by treatment protocol evaluation that involves techniques for risk management is strongly
recommended.