WEDNESDAY, May 11, 2022 (HealthDay News) — Could giving surgical procedure sufferers ready-to-use mailed disposal kits for unused opioids decrease the chance of abuse of the medicine?

Yes, claims a brand new research that discovered sufferers with unused opioid ache drugs are more likely to eliminate them correctly when given the kits.

There’s a danger that leftover opioid drugs could also be misused by the individual they had been prescribed to or by others. If they’re put within the trash, they may very well be discovered by youngsters or animals, or could hurt the surroundings. Flushing them down the bathroom additionally poses environmental dangers, the researchers defined.

There are secure disposal websites, comparable to sure pharmacies, however sufferers usually do not use them as a result of they might be out of the best way or it takes additional effort.

In this research, University of Pennsylvania researchers assessed whether or not mailed secure disposal kits would possibly make a distinction.

The research included 235 sufferers who had been prescribed opioid painkillers after orthopedic or urologic procedures. The typical process was adopted for about half of the sufferers, who had been texted directions to eliminate their unused drugs together with a hyperlink to places of native secure disposal websites.

The different sufferers obtained the identical textual content message however had been mailed disposal kits 4 to seven days after their procedures.

Leftover opioids had been disposed of correctly by 60% of those that obtained the disposal package, in contrast with 43% of the sufferers who did not obtain the kits, the investigators discovered.

Some research present that solely about 20% to 30% of U.S. sufferers correctly eliminate unused opioid drugs, so these findings counsel that mailed disposal kits might double or triple that fee, based on the authors of the research revealed on-line May 6 in JAMA Network Open.

The researchers famous that using mailed disposal kits by 125 sufferers within the research resulted within the secure disposal of 480 unused opioid drugs.

“I used to be happy to see that such a easy, ‘snail mail’ method might change conduct and promote self-reported disposal,” mentioned research lead creator Dr. Anish Agarwal, an assistant professor of emergency medication and chief wellness officer of the division of emergency medication at Penn Medicine.

“The opioid epidemic clearly continues to be entrance and heart for sufferers, and the considerations with opioid use and misuse have gotten an actual a part of the dialog between physicians and sufferers,” Agarwal added in a college information launch. “I feel sufferers are extra conscious of the dangers and penalties of utilizing opioids and storing them of their properties.”

More info

For extra on the secure disposal of medication, go to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

SOURCE: University of Pennsylvania, information launch, May 6, 2022

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THURSDAY, April 21, 2022 (HealthDay News) — Obesity is tied to many kinds of most cancers, and new analysis finds that over the long run it practically doubles a lady’s danger of endometrial most cancers.

“This examine is an fascinating first step into how genetic analyses might be used to uncover precisely how weight problems causes most cancers, and what could be achieved to deal with it,” mentioned examine lead creator Emma Hazelwood, of the University of Bristol in England.

“Links between weight problems and womb [endometrial] most cancers are well-known, however this is likely one of the largest research which has regarded into precisely why that’s on a molecular stage. We sit up for additional analysis exploring how we will now use this info to assist cut back the chance of most cancers in folks fighting weight problems,” Hazelwood mentioned in a Cancer Research UK information launch.

For the examine, the researchers analyzed genetic samples from about 120,000 ladies within the United States, Australia, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom, together with about 13,000 with endometrial most cancers.

For each 5 additional physique mass index (BMI) items, there was an 88% elevated danger of endometrial most cancers. BMI is an estimate of physique fats primarily based on weight and peak. Five BMI items is the distinction between being obese and overweight.

The Cancer Research UK-funded examine is likely one of the first to look at how the next lifelong BMI impacts endometrial most cancers danger.

Endometrial most cancers is likely one of the kinds of most cancers most carefully related to weight problems and is the most typical gynecological most cancers in high-income international locations, the examine authors famous.

“This will play a pivotal position in uncovering stop and deal with most cancers sooner or later,” mentioned Dr. Julie Sharp, head of well being info at Cancer Research UK.

“More analysis is required to analyze precisely which therapies and medicines might be used to handle most cancers danger amongst folks fighting weight problems,” Sharp added. “We already know that being obese or overweight will increase your danger of creating 13 various kinds of most cancers. To cut back your most cancers danger, it is essential to take care of a wholesome weight by consuming a balanced eating regimen and staying lively.”

The findings have been printed April 18 within the journal BMC Medicine.

More info

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gives ideas for a nutritious diet.

SOURCE: Cancer Research UK, information launch, April 18, 2022

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Dec. 2, 2021 — South Africa’s COVID-19 circumstances nearly doubled inside 24 hours, leaping from a reported 4,300 new circumstances on Tuesday to eight,500 new every day circumstances on Wednesday, in line with the BBC.

Health officers have confirmed that the brand new Omicron variant has change into the dominant coronavirus pressure in South Africa and is driving a pointy enhance in new infections.

“There is a possibility that really, we’re going to be seeing a serious doubling or tripling of the cases as we move along or as the week unfolds,” Nicksy Gumede-Moeletsi, PhD, a regional virologist for the World Health Organization, instructed The Associated Press.

“There is a possibility that we are going to see a vast increase in the number of cases being identified in South Africa,” she stated.

In early November, the nation reported 200 to 300 new circumstances per day and had a 1% positivity price. But circumstances started to extend shortly in mid-November, and Wednesday’s positivity price reached 16.5%, the AP reported.

South Africa was the primary nation to detect the brand new Omicron variant and report it to the WHO. The nation’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases stated Wednesday that 74% of the virus genomes sequenced in November have been of the brand new variant, the BBC reported.

As of Thursday morning, 25 international locations have reported 329 circumstances of the Omicron variant to GISAID, a worldwide database for genomic sequencing. The newest international locations to substantiate their first circumstances embody the U.S., India, and Ghana.

Hospitalizations are rising in South Africa however not on the price of the brand new circumstances. So far, hospital admissions are following the identical development as earlier COVID-19 surges within the nation, in line with an evaluation by the Financial Times.

Scientists have expressed considerations in regards to the giant variety of mutations on the Omicron variant, although they will’t fairly say whether or not the variant is extra transmissible, causes extra extreme COVID-19, or evades vaccines. Labs in South Africa are specializing in genomic sequencing of Omicron circumstances to reply these questions.

“The world is watching South Africa,” Deenan Pillay, PhD, a professor of virology at University College London, instructed the Financial Times.

“There are a lot of things we don’t know about Omicron,” he stated. “Real world clinical data from South Africa will provide us with some of the first answers.”

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