Fentanyl has been the main protagonist of the “opioid epidemic“That for decades affects the United States and whose echoes have already been noticed in other countries. However, other drugs are also flourishing in the middle of a crisis that does not seem to send.
A “new” risk. An American researchers group has caught attention about the risk involved in nitazenos in the context of this opioid crisis. According to the equipment, these compounds are much more powerful than drugs such as fentanyl and can also go unnoticed in Tests common, what could be contributing to the “emerging” character of this drug described by the group.
Nitazenos are an opioid category created in the 1950sbut never approved for pharmacological use.
“For patients, especially those with opioid use disorder or those exposed to illegal substances, nitazenos pose a serious threat would be often hidden,” ” pointed in a press release Shravani Durbhakula, co -author of the study. “Since these drugs do not appear in routine toxicology exams, sanitary could ignore a critical piece in diagnosis during overdose treatment. Patients can also neccess higher or repeated doses of naloxin to reverse their effects.”
At least since 2019. According to The team stands outbetween 2019 and 2023, the Toxicological Monitoring System of the North American State of Tennessee, TN Sudors (Tennessee State an animal Drug Overdose Reporting System), detected this substance in 92 deaths due to overdose.
In the 92 deaths registered in the state of Tennessee, the Nitazenos were found in conjunction with other substances, generally fentanyl or methamphetamine. This suggests that many of the people who consume the substance do so without even knowing that they are doing it, having used as adulterants.
Rapid expansion. The study of these substances has led the team to alert about their “rapid expansion In the illicit market. ”The difficulty when detecting nitazenos, which may appear in different formats, is an added problem when treating overdose caused by these substances.
The team’s work has been accepted for publication in the magazine Pain Medicinealthough for now your previous manuscript can be consulted.
Never tested. More than half a century ago we know the Nitazenos but after their development they were never approved for medical use, they were not even clinically studied properly, the equipment recalls. Studying them could now help us better understand their effects, especially in the long term. It could also help us better understand how to respond to them, for example through naloxone, the drug usually used to avoid opioid overdose.
They also highlight the role of other strategies, especially education, as well as the introduction of tests that are able to detect this substance quickly. Fighting this “emergency in public health” requires collaboration between health personnel, security forces and community organizations that can implement damage reduction strategies, Durbhakula comments.
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Image | James Yarema
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