Opioids Attributed to Deaths Other than Overdoses in the City of Skokie

The drug rehab Skokie says there’s no doubt about it, drug and alcohol abuse has done nothing but cause devastating and long lasting problems in and around Skokie.  This is an area that, along with the rest of the greater Chicago area, has caused significant problems, difficulties, and countless issues to boot.  True enough, accidental overdoses are only one of the terrible effects of opioid use and abuse, and it is now being found that there is more to this than initially met the eye.

Accidental overdoses actually are not the only deadly risk from using powerful prescription painkillers.  There is more to this that for a long time now we always thought was just the effects of overdoses themselves.  Recent studies however into the deaths in Skokie and the greater Chicago area have come to the conclusion that the drugs may also contribute to heart-related deaths and other fatalities.

From the study as it examined deaths and addicts in Skokie and the Chicago area:

• Among more than 45,000 patients in the study, those using opioid painkillers had a 64 percent higher risk of dying within six months of starting treatment compared to patients taking other prescription pain medicine. Unintentional overdoses accounted for about 18 percent of the deaths among opioid users, versus 8 percent of the other patients.

What Opioid Abuse and Addiction Means for the Entire Country

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (CDC), have been warning and cautioning the nation since the turn of the century.  They have been trying to stem the nation’s opioid epidemic. Because that’s exactly what it is, an epidemic.  In fact, the prescription drug abuse issue in the United States is the only drug abuse issue in the entire United States throughout the history of the nation that has ever earned the title of an, “epidemic”.  The problem here also includes abuse of street drugs like heroin and overuse of prescription opioids such as hydrocodone, codeine and morphine too, but prescription drugs are by far the worst.

• “When folks abuse drugs like these, the drugs can slow breathing and can worsen disrupted breathing that occurs with sleep apnea, potentially leading to irregular heartbeats, heart attacks or sudden death”, the CDC states.

Furthermore:

• In 2014, there were more than 14,000 fatal overdoses linked with the painkillers in the U.S. The study suggests even more have died from causes linked with the drugs, and bolster evidence in previous research linking them with heart problems.  The study involved more than 45,000 adult Medicaid patients in Tennessee from 1999 to 2012. They were prescribed drugs for chronic pain not caused by cancer but from other ailments including persistent backaches and arthritis.

There’s no doubt about it, prescription drug abuse is causing a problem of epic proportions in Skokie.  Now more than ever do the residents of this city need to come together and stand up for what’s right and put their foot down on drug and alcohol abuse and addiction once and for all, especially with the help of the drug rehabilitation Skokie.