Risk Factors for Painkiller Addiction Identified
Posted on September 2, 2010Several factors can contribute to developing an addiction, and researchers have come closer to solving the mystery of why some people become addicts and others don’t.
Scientists from the Geisinger Health System in Pennsylvania found that there are four main risk factors for becoming addicted to prescription painkillers: being younger than 65, having a history of depression, abusing other drugs in the past, and using psychotropic medications.
The researchers gathered DNA information from 705 patients who were being prescribed opioid painkillers such as morphine and codeine for back pain for more than 90 days. They also examined a gene located on chromosome 15, which has been linked with alcoholism, cocaine addiction, and nicotine addiction, and found that gene mutations on this chromosome may be linked to opioid addiction.
Joseph Boscarino, an epidemiologist and senior investigator at Geisinger’s Center for Health Research, said that their study suggests that people with these risk factors are 26 percent more likely to become addicted to painkillers, and that screening patients for the risk factors prior to prescribing narcotic painkillers could help prevent addiction. He added that the same risk factors could increase the risk of addiction in patients without chronic pain.
Source: HealthDay News, Robert Preidt, Study Identifies Risks for Painkiller Addiction, September 2, 2010
