![]() Signs of an overdose include pinpoint pupils, pale skin, limpness, lack of response to painful stimuli and slow pulse and breathing. ![]() Breathing slows down to a critical level and then stops. When external opioids are taken in too large amounts, receptors are overwhelmed in the part of the brain that controls breathing, an area called the medulla oblongata. Maya Doe-Simkins/Harm Reduction Coalition, Author provided Opioid drugs reduce the perception of pain and stimulate pleasure and a sense of well-being. On the one hand they can relieve pain and suffering, while on the other they can cause tragedy. As Opioids mimic natural neurotransmitters In use since the 1970s, naloxone saves lives by quickly reversing these deadly effects. High doses of opioids put the breathing center in the brain to sleep, leading to loss of consciousness. More recently CDC reported that in 28 states death rate for heroin doubled from 2010-2012 with a small decline in deaths from opioid pain relievers. The latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tell us that prescription opioids – pain relievers like morphine, methadone, hydromorphine, fentanyl, oxycodone, hydrocodone – were responsible for 16,917 overdose deaths in 2011, and deaths from heroin doubled from 2,089 in 2002 to 4,397 in 2011. Opioid prescriptions have increased 300% over the past 20 years with opioid overdose deaths quadrupled in parallel. In the US, we are facing an opioid and chronic pain epidemic. Naxolone can seem like a miracle drug when administered to an OD'ing patient. It’s naloxone, the opioid overdose antidote drug, and today it’s more widely available than ever. Many first responders’ – even some university police officers – are carrying a new tool in their first-aid kits.
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