A Comparison of Medication-Assisted Treatment Options for Opioid Addiction: A Review of the Literature.

In individuals in the United States with opioid addiction, what is the effect of a medication-assisted treatment (MAT) in reducing the relapse and harm reduction when comparing the use of buprenorphine, methadone, and naltrexone? In 2017, it was estimated that 1.7 million individuals suffer from overuse of prescription opiates, 652,000 individuals suffer from heroin use disorder, and greater than 130 individuals die from opiate overdose daily (National Institutes of Health, 2019). Using a systematic literature review, the following results were found.

Health care among insured drug users and nonusers.

This paper analyzes data on medical needs, utilization, and access collected during 1997-1999 in Houston from 117 drug users and 55 nonusers living in the same neighborhoods. Results indicate that drug users in Houston did not have a different level of medical needs than did nonusers, nor were they disadvantaged in terms of utilization or access to medical services. Part of the difference in results from previous studies may be because the longitudinal design of the study selected for relatively stable drug users and nonusers (for example, all study participants reported some form of publicly funded health insurance).

Low mutational rate of K-ras codon 12 in singular bronchoscopy specimens in suspected lung cancer.

Mutations of the K-ras gene are found in a subset of non-small- cell lung carcinomas (NSCLC). The aim of our study was to determine the K-ras codon 12 mutation in the first, singular bronchoscopy specimen in parallel with the cytological examination for the diagnosis of lung cancer. Samples were obtained by diagnostic bronchoscopy in 140 patients with suspected lung tumors.

Posttraumatic stress disorder among Hispanic and African-American drug users.

Context: Treating high-risk substance abusers who are members of minority groups may require varied protocols depending on differences among minority groups.

Objectives: To explore cocaine abuse (CA)/ dependence with physiological dependence (CDPD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosis differences between out-of-treatment Hispanic and African American adults, in order to identify cultural differences in how experiences and attitudes affect cocaine use behaviors.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This study uses data collected between February and November 2000, as part of a three-year longitudinal study.

Tracheal stenosis complicated with tracheoesophageal fistula.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the results of surgical treatment in patients with simultaneous occurrence of postintubation tracheal stenosis (TS) and tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF).

Methods: In the group of 51 patients with postcannulation tracheal stenosis who underwent segmental resection, TEF was identified simultaneously in five (10%) of them. The mean age of the TS-TEF patients was 43 years (range 35-60 years).