Patients on injectable diacetylmorphine maintenance have low bone mass.

Introduction And Aims: Risk factors for osteoporosis are prevalent in chronic heroin users who often start using opiates in their late teens. This study was the first to evaluate bone mineral density (BMD) in relatively young heroin-dependent patients on injectable heroin maintenance.

Design And Methods: Using cross-sectional design, BMD was assessed in a convenience sample of 19 patients (mean age ± SD = 33.

Psychobiological responses to drug cues before and after methadone intake in heroin-dependent patients: a pilot study.

Craving and stress frequently drive compulsive heroin use. Although methadone attenuates craving, drug-conditioned stimuli can trigger craving and possibly stress arousal in heroin-dependent patients receiving methadone maintenance. This study investigated drug cue-related craving, affectivity, and cortisol reactivity in 16 methadone-maintained patients before and after daily methadone.