Heroin Maintenance Treatment - Are the Further Investigation Needed?
Journal Title: Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences (MJMS) - Year 2012, Vol 5, Issue 4
Abstract
The aim of this review is to give new emphasis to key aspects of the proposed treatment of drug addiction. Surveys for so called “second-line†treatment of drug addiction, with heroin (diacetylmorphine) as a pharmaceutical preparation, started since 1990, but this issue is becoming particularly popular in the last period. Drug addiction according to WHO and International Classification of Diseases (ICD10) is chronic, relapsing disease characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use despite harmful consequences as well as neurochemical and molecular changes in the brain. Drugs generate crime, violence and other social problems that are damaging society as a whole. Drug addiction is medical disorder to which contributes more factors and it is necessary to implement the treatment in multi disciplinary manner - from pharmacological, psychiatric, and social aspect. In recent periods studies are carrying out in several countries in the European region, to provide justification, with the scientific medical evidence, for use of heroin as a pharmaceutical dosage form, for treatment of drug addictions for previously unresponsive group. This review paper is focused on maintenance treatment with heroin, retention of the patients into treatment, whether the dose that is expected to be effective at the same time is safe, which organ (systems) are involved in eliminating the drug from the body, whether the injection is the best way for application of the drug. Purpose of this review paper is not to be supporter or opponent, but to inform, transparently to discuss all aspects and to set conclusions about this type of treatment, within national strategy context.
Authors and Affiliations
Tatjana Petrushevska| Ministry of Health of the Republic of Macedonia, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP8896
- DOI 10.3889/MJMS.1857-5773.2012.0238
- Views 336
- Downloads 14
Clinico-Pathological Presentation of Colorectal Cancer Seen in Lagos State University Teaching Hospital
Aim: The objective is to describe the age and gender distribution, pattern of presentation, sites of colorectal cancers and the histological types of colorectal cancers seen over a 5 year period in a tertiary health in...
An Overview of Introducing Various Laboratory Tests for Diagnosis of Human Brucellosis in the Republic of Macedonia
Aim. To present various laboratory tests introduced for diagnosis of human brucellosis in the Republic of Macedonia. Methods. Various laboratory tests were implemented in our lab, as screening or confirmatory tests, s...
Assessment of Speech Development in Children with Cochlear Implants in Republic of Macedonia Using Monosyllabic-TrochePolysyllabic Test (Closed-Set)
Background: Electric stimulation of the auditory nerve via cochlear implants has made a great impact on treatment of sensory deafness. Advanced signal processing and stimulation paradigms have led to continuously impro...
Comment on the Publication: Lazarevik V, Kasapinov B. Medical Doctors’ Attitudes towards Pay-For-Reporting in Macedonia: A Web-Based Cross-Sectional Survey. Maced J Med Sci. 2012;5(4):437-443
We are truly glad for the interest in scientific approach towards the model for Payment-for- Activity (PPU), recently introduced in the Republic of Macedonia, taking in consideration that for the very first time a syst...
Occupational Sharp Injuries and Biological Markers of Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C Viral Infection in Nurses
Background: Nurses are at risk for occupational exposure to blood-borne pathogens (BBP), including hepatitis B (HBV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV). Occupational exposure to BBP among nurses includes percutaneous injurie...