Long-Term Opioid Use and Nicotine
Is there a connection between nicotine addiction and long-term opioid use?
According to an article posted on Medicalxpress.com, there may be. It references a small study that found 1 in 4 people prescribed an opioid for the first time went on to longer prescription terms. This is by no means conclusive, due to the limited reach of the study, but it also found a possible relationship between the 25% and people that are currently or were once smokers.
These types of studies and their results are important because they are likely to lead to larger research projects focusing on more detailed surveys. They might even find other connections. With prescription opioid addiction and overdoses on an out-of-control rise, every little piece of evidence helps. Prevention and awareness are going to be important tools in our fight to reverse the trend.
If it turns out that smokers or others are indeed more likely to fall into the opioid addiction cycle, maybe doctors will take note and prescribe an alternative drug for pain. Good news.