Opioid addiction
Opioid addiction is at all time highs in the US. Television, radio, magazines, newspapers, blogs, and politicians are all ranting about the opioid addiction problem in this country. The basis of this addiction is typically a pain condition that was initially treated with opioids like oxycodone – supposed to be a short term therapeutic regimen – but that turned into long term dependence.
Alternatives exist – such as acupuncture to increase endorphins in the brain, and NRCT (Neurologic relief center technique) that may be helpful to reduce the nerve irritations that can cause pain syndromes not addressed in other ways. Mindfulness, hypnotherapy, guided imagery and a variety of natural supplements can also be effective interventions to replace the addictive opioids or to reduce the dependence over time.
THE OPIOID ADDICTION EPIDEMIC STATISTICS
By far, the opioid crisis is one of the worst epidemics to hit the United States.
More than 2.4 million Americans have reportedly abused opioid medications, many of which are formulated to match pain-reducing properties of opium, including legal painkillers like morphine, oxycodone, and hydrocodone.
Others have turned to heroin and fentanyl.
Making it worse, according to U.S. governors, as noted by NBC Chicago:
“The federal government needs to do more to block illicit versions of synthetic drugs such as fentanyl from being shipped into the U.S. Last year, the Department of Justice issued indictments of two Chinese companies accused of sending fentanyl illegally into the U.S., one of several anti-opioid moves by the federal government.”
It’s gotten so bad that since 1999, the number of accidental deaths involving opioids has quadrupled. In fact, it’s been reported that 91 Americans die every day from it.
In 2015, 52,000 Americans died from opioid abuse.
According to The U.S. Council of Economic Advisers (CEA):“CEA estimates that in 2015, the economic cost of the opioid crisis was $504.0 billion, or 2.8 percent of GDP that year. This is over six times larger than the most recently estimated economic cost of the epidemic.”In 2016, that number exploded to 63,600. In 2017, early data has it up to 66,000.
It’s why President Donald Trump declared the opioid crisis a “public health emergency.”
“We have to be careful because there’s a drug epidemic the likes of which we’ve never seen in this country,” he added. “I will be pushing the concept of non addictive painkillers very, very hard. We’re going to be spending lots of money on coming up with a non-addictive solutions.”
ALTERNATIVES TO OPIOID ADDICTION AT THE REDWOOD CLINIC
Alternatives exist – such as acupuncture to increase endorphins in the brain, and NRCT (Neurologic relief center technique) that may be helpful to reduce the nerve irritations that can cause pain syndromes not addressed in other ways. Mindfulness, hypnotherapy, guided imagery and a variety of natural supplements can also be effective interventions to replace the addictive opioids or to reduce the dependence over time.
The functional medicine approach is also very important to get your body’s systems back into balance.
Opioids severely alter the digestive and elimination systems. They are the basis for getting nutrition in your system and the foundation of a healthy immune system. When those are malfunctioning, the brain also is effected directly, and then the natural opiates produced by the brain and elsewhere, the endorphins and enkephalins are thrown out of balance. As are the feel-good biochemicals of serotonin and dopamine.
To break the addiction cycle the body’s natural feel good and pain reducing chemicals must be activated. Functional medicine is the most effective approach for this as it reduces dependence on pharmaceutical agents that cause numerous side effects.
Call us today at The Redwood Clinic +1-510-849-1176 to set up your functional medicine consultation. Delay only makes the addiction worse.