Addicted Forever? –
Dec. 5, 2019 – One in four U.S. adults is living with at least one chronic disease
Preventing chronic disease could help curb the opioid epidemic, according to research from the University of Georgia. The study is the first to examine the relationship between hospitalizations due to opioid misuse and chronic disease.
“When we look at the opioid crisis, most of the response has been to treat opioid overdose, making naloxone more available, for example. That’s a good immediate intervention, but in the long run, we need to identify the underlying issues of the epidemic,” said study author Janani Thapa, who studies chronic disease at UGA’s College of Public Health.
When most health professionals talk about the risks of living with a chronic disease, opioid addiction doesn’t make the list, but to Thapa, the association is obvious. “Chronic disease is associated with pain. Pain is associated with opioid use,” she said. “So, we thought, let’s look at that and put some numbers behind the association.” One in four U.S. adults is living with at least one chronic disease, and many of these diseases are accompanied with chronic pain. Arthritis is one common example. Obesity is another.
