Heroin addiction is extremely hard to overcome, but a team of scientists has found that an opioid painkiller offers a new potential treatment.
The groundbreaking study, dubbed SALOME (Study to Assess Longer-term Opioid Medication Effectiveness), conducts clinical trials on alternative treatments for people suffering from chronic heroin addiction and those who do not respond to current treatments.
The study, which was conducted in Vancouver, Canada, compared two similar medications, pharmaceutical heroine called hydromorphone (HDM) and diacetylmorphine, which is an active ingredient of heroin.
The findings of the study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Pyschiatry, show that HDM, which is related to morphine, could provide alternative treatment for patients where diacetylmorphine is unavailable due to regulatory reasons or if the patient has not responded to treatment using this drug.
"The findings of the SALOME researchers shine a new light on how we can help people with heroin addictions," said Health Minister Terry Lake.
Methadone and suboxone are deemed effective for a lot of people with opioid addictions, but for some, the medicines do not offer beneficial effects to their condition. The new study demonstrates that there are still other medicines that could help those in need.
More than 200 patients in Vancouver were subjected to a six-month study and it involved receiving either an injectable form of hydromorphone (HDM) or diacetylmorphine (DAM). The patients received the medications at PHC's Crosstown Clinic.
Hydromorphone As Effective As DAM
The researchers have found that HDM is deemed effective just like DAM for patients suffering from chronic heroin addiction and those not responding to current treatment options.
The patients enrolled in the study reported lesser days of opioid and heroin use after six months of treatment compared to daily use of addictive drugs before joining the study. They also reported a reduction in the days of illegal activities, from 14.1 average days per month to just less than four days.
Safe When Given In A Clinical Setting
Both medicines are also safe to be given in a hospital or clinical setting under the supervision of doctors and nurses. From a total of 88,451 injections throughout the duration of the study, there were 14 overdoses and 11 seizure bouts. The clinic successfully managed all of the incidents because it they happened elsewhere, they could cause serious complications and even fatal effects.
"Taken together, these results suggest that injectable hydromorphone is as effective as injectable diacetylmorphine for long-term injection street opioid users not currently benefitting from available treatments," the researchers concluded.
"In jurisdictions where diacetylmorphine is currently not available or in patients in whom it is contraindicated or unsuccessful, hydromorphone provides a licensed alternative, once its use for maintenance treatment of opioid use disorder is permitted," they added.
Photo: Partha S. Sahana | Flickr
