scholarly journals Therapeutic options and challenges for substances of abuse

2007 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 431-445 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Substance Use ◽  
The United States ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Pharmacological Treatments ◽  
Public Health Concern ◽  
Significant Public Health Concern ◽  
Significant Public Health ◽  
Substances Of Abuse

Addiction to substances continues to be a significant public health concern in the United States. The following review of current pharmacological treatments discusses a range of substances: nicotine, alcohol, cocaine, and opioids. The goal is to provide an overview of currently available and new pharmacological treatments for substance use disorders, while also addressing the pharmacotherapeutic challenges remaining. The significant advances in pharmacotherapy have had limited utilization, however. For example, naltrexone for alcoholism is infrequently prescribed, buprenorphine for opiates still has relatively few qualified prescribers, and stimulants have no Food and Drug Administration-approved pharmacotherapy. These pharmacotherapies are needed, with the rate of even the relatively uncommon abuse of opiates now rising sharply.

scholarly journals Medications against drugs: Development of medications to prevent and treat substance use disorders

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivan Dario Montoya
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Substance Use ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Public Health Concern ◽  
Safety And Efficacy ◽  
Significant Public Health Concern ◽  
Scientific Approach ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Significant Public Health ◽  
New Compounds

Substance use disorder (SUD) is a significant public health concern. Unfortunately, there are few safe and effective medications to treat SUD and efficacy is suboptimal. There are important financial and scientific obstacles to develop new compounds, but recent advances in the discovery of new brain receptors and neurocircuits are offering opportunities to develop new pharmacotherapies. A systematic scientific approach to develop medications is required to demonstrate their safety and efficacy, bring it to market, and prescribe it to patients. The purpose of this manuscript is to provide a general overview of the challenges and opportunities in medications development for SUD, describe the phased approach of this development, the medications approved, and those that appear most promising.

scholarly journals A Novel Phenotypic Method To Screen for Plasmid-Mediated Colistin Resistance among Enterobacteriales

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Drew T. Bell ◽  
Yehudit Bergman ◽  
Abida Q. Kazmi ◽  
Shawna Lewis ◽  
Pranita D. Tamma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Sensitivity And Specificity ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Colistin Resistance ◽  
Public Health Concern ◽  
Significant Public Health Concern ◽  
Phenotypic Method ◽  
Significant Public Health ◽  
Clinical Pathogens

ABSTRACT Plasmid-mediated colistin resistance (PMCR), a consequence of the mcr genes, is a significant public health concern given its potential to easily spread among clinical pathogens. Recently, it was discovered that MCR enzymes require zinc for activity. Thus, we modified the colistin broth-disk elution (CBDE) test to screen for plasmid-mediated colistin resistance (PMCR) genes based on any reduction of colistin MIC in the presence of EDTA. Eighty-five isolates of the order Enterobacteriales (12 mcr positive) were tested by CBDE ± EDTA. The sensitivity and specificity of the EDTA-CBDE method to detect PMCR compared to the molecular genotype results were 100% and 95.8%, respectively. Isolates positive by the EDTA-CBDE test should be further evaluated to confirm the presence of mcr genes.

Tensile Properties of the Swine Cardinal Ligament

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frances M. Davis ◽  
Ting Tan ◽  
Suzanne Nicewonder ◽  
Raffaella De Vita
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Pelvic Floor Disorders ◽  
The United States ◽  
Pelvic Organ ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Adult Women ◽  
Public Health Concern ◽  
Connective Tissues ◽  
Pelvic Organs

Pelvic floor disorders such as urinary incontinence, fecal incontinence, and pelvic organ prolapse represent a major public health concern in the United States affecting one third of adult women [1]. These disorders are determined by structural and mechanical alterations of the pelvic organs, their supporting muscles and connective tissues that occur mainly during pregnancy, vaginal delivery, and aging [1].

scholarly journals PHP12 Shortages of Systemic Antibiotics in the United States: A Public Health Concern

2012 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. A15
Author(s):  
B. Balkhi ◽  
L. Araujo-Lama ◽  
D. Nguyen ◽  
P. Le ◽  
E. Seoane-Vazquez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Public Health Concern ◽  
Systemic Antibiotics

scholarly journals Childhood and Adolescent Obesity in the United States: A Public Health Concern

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 2333794X1989130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adekunle Sanyaolu ◽  
Chuku Okorie ◽  
Xiaohua Qi ◽  
Jennifer Locke ◽  
Saif Rehman
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Risk Factors ◽  
Secondary Prevention ◽  
Psychological Factors ◽  
The United States ◽  
Adolescent Obesity ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Public Health Concern ◽  
Childhood And Adolescent Obesity

Childhood and adolescent obesity have reached epidemic levels in the United States. Currently, about 17% of US children are presenting with obesity. Obesity can affect all aspects of the children including their psychological as well as cardiovascular health; also, their overall physical health is affected. The association between obesity and other conditions makes it a public health concern for children and adolescents. Due to the increase in the prevalence of obesity among children, a variety of research studies have been conducted to discover what associations and risk factors increase the probability that a child will present with obesity. While a complete picture of all the risk factors associated with obesity remains elusive, the combination of diet, exercise, physiological factors, and psychological factors is important in the control and prevention of childhood obesity; thus, all researchers agree that prevention is the key strategy for controlling the current problem. Primary prevention methods are aimed at educating the child and family, as well as encouraging appropriate diet and exercise from a young age through adulthood, while secondary prevention is targeted at lessening the effect of childhood obesity to prevent the child from continuing the unhealthy habits and obesity into adulthood. A combination of both primary and secondary prevention is necessary to achieve the best results. This review article highlights the health implications including physiological and psychological factors comorbidities, as well as the epidemiology, risk factors, prevention, and control of childhood and adolescent obesity in the United States.

Impact of the Opioid/Fentanyl Epidemic on the Toxicology Laboratory’s Workload: The CMCVAMC Experience

2019 ◽  
Vol 152 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S90-S90
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Petersen ◽  
Thomas George ◽  
Darshana Jhala
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Clinical Care ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Fiscal Year ◽  
Opioid Epidemic ◽  
Public Health Concern ◽  
Significant Public Health Concern ◽  
Significant Public Health ◽  
Gas Chromatography Mass Spectroscopy

Abstract Introduction Opiates have long been used by both the population at large and the veteran population as a drug of abuse. However, recently, fentanyl—a synthetic opioid—has risen in prominence in this opioid drug abuse epidemic as a drug used by suppliers to “cut” heroin, to masquerade for another opiate, or for direct usage. As this is a recent phenomenon, the new increasing need to test for fentanyl for clinical reasons has a major impact on the toxicology laboratory’s workload. Method Quality assurance/improvement data were obtained to determine the number of fentanyl tests by gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy (GC/MS) performed by the toxicology laboratory since quarter 1 of 2011 (October-December 2010) to quarter 1 of 2018 (October-December 2017). The numbers of tests required for clinical care in each quarter were tabulated and compared in a graph. Quarters for each year begin and end in October. Results The total number of GC/MS tests for fentanyl needed for clinical care has been drastically increasing recently. From 2011 to 2015, the yearly number of tests clinically needed has ranged from 83 to 92. In 2016, the total number of clinically needed tests for fentanyl spiked to 167 and by fiscal year 2017 included 1,108 fentanyl GC/MS tests. The last examined quarter (quarter 1 of fiscal year 2018) included 527 tests, which is more than the highest number from 2017 (377 in quarter 4 of 2017). Conclusion The increasing use of fentanyl in the opioid epidemic appears to have played a role in significantly increasing the clinical need to test for fentanyl by GC/MS, increasing the volume by over 10 to 15 times. The role of fentanyl in the opioid epidemic remains a significant public health concern.

Surgical Treatment Of Obesity

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luise Pernar ◽  
Malcolm K. Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Weight Loss ◽  
Weight Loss Surgery ◽  
The United States ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Public Health Concern ◽  
Significant Public Health Concern ◽  
Significant Public Health ◽  
Treatment Of Obesity ◽  
Hunger Sensation ◽  
Surgical Treatment Of Obesity

Obesity is associated with numerous comorbidities and shortens life expectancy. Currently, over one third of adults in the United States are obese, making management of obesity a significant public health concern. Given the modest benefits of behavior change alone, weight loss surgery has become a popular tool in the treatment of obesity. Numerous studies have documented the benefits of weight loss surgery in promoting weight loss and resolution of comorbidities. The hormonal and physiologic changes that are induced by some weight loss procedures are not yet fully elucidated, but it is thought that changes in hunger sensation and metabolism drive the observed effects. This review contains 4 figures, 2 videos, 3 tables and 60 references Key words: bypass, obesity, sleeve gastrectomy, surgery, weight loss

scholarly journals Assessing the Emergent Public Health Concern of All-Terrain Vehicle Injuries in Rural and Agricultural Environments: Initial Review of Available National Datasets in the United States

10.2196/15477 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. e15477
Author(s):  
Bryan Weichelt ◽  
Serap Gorucu ◽  
Charles Jennissen ◽  
Gerene Denning ◽  
Stephen Oesch
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Surveillance System ◽  
Reporting System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Federally Funded ◽  
Public Health Concern ◽  
Injury Surveillance System

Background Injuries related to the operation of off-road vehicles (ORVs), including all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), continue to be a significant public health concern, especially in rural and agricultural environments. In the United States alone, ATVs have played a role in thousands of fatalities and millions of injuries in the recent decades. However, no known centralized federal surveillance system consistently captures these data. Traditional injury data sources include surveys, police reports, trauma registries, emergency department data, newspaper and online media reports, and state and federal agency databases. Objective The objectives of this study paper were to (1) identify published articles on ORV-related injuries and deaths that used large databases and determine the types of datasets that were used, (2) examine and describe several national US-based surveillance systems that capture ORV-related injuries and fatalities, and (3) promote and provide support for the establishment of a federally-funded agricultural injury surveillance system. Methods In this study, we examined several national United States–based injury datasets, including the web-based AgInjuryNews, the Fatality Analysis Reporting System, databases compiled by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, and the National Fatality Review Case Reporting System. Results Our review found that these data sources cannot provide a complete picture of the incidents or the circumstantial details needed to effectively inform ORV injury prevention efforts. This is particularly true with regard to ORV-related injuries in agricultural production. Conclusions We encourage the establishment of a federally funded national agricultural injury surveillance system. However, in lieu of this, use of multiple data sources will be necessary to provide a more complete picture of ORV- and other agriculture-related injuries and fatalities.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document