Any Kind of Drug Abuse Treatment Can Help Gay Men Kick Meth Habit

• Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
• December 5, 2023
• Full Page

Methamphetamine abuse has long plagued the gay community, but a new study finds that any form of substance abuse treatment can help users quit.

In a news release, University of California, Los Angeles researchers explained that men who have sex with men are "a population...

U.S. Deaths Involving Meth Are Skyrocketing, Fentanyl a Big Factor

• Steven Reinberg HealthDay Reporter
• February 21, 2023
• Full Page

Deaths from methamphetamine among Americans increased 50-fold between 1999 and 2021, a chilling new study reports.

Most of these deaths also involved heroin or fentanyl, according to researchers.

"The staggering increase in methamphetamine-related deaths in the Uni...

Cases of Meth-Linked Heart Failure Are Spreading Worldwide

• Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter
• December 2, 2022
• Full Page

Methamphetamine wreaks havoc on the heart, warns new research that shows heart failure rates linked to the illicit drug are on the rise around the world.

Not only are these cases increasing, but they are more severe than traditional heart failure cases and they are stri...

Marijuana, Meth, Cocaine Use Can Help Trigger Dangerous A-Fib

• Steven Reinberg HealthDay Reporter
• October 20, 2022
• Full Page

Using marijuana increases the risk of developing the heart rhythm disorder atrial fibrillation (a-fib), a new study suggests.

It's been known that drugs such as methamphetamine, cocaine an...

Meth Plays Big Role in Drug ODs in Rural America

• Steven Reinberg HealthDay Reporter
• August 16, 2022
• Full Page

Methamphetamine is driving an epidemic of drug overdoses in rural America, a new study concludes.

Researchers attribute the surge to meth laced with fentanyl or combined with an opioid tha...

Psychosis Risk Rises When People Abuse 'Speed'

• February 15, 2022
• Full Page

Amphetamines can pull people into a vicious cycle of addiction, but new research now shows that people who abuse these stimulants are also five times more likely to develop psychosis than non-users.

The effect of "speed" on neurotransmitter signaling in the brain often c...

Opioids, Cocaine, Meth Are Hitting America's Black Communities Hardest

• February 10, 2022
• Full Page

Combined use of opioids and stimulant drugs like cocaine and methamphetamine can be deadly, and in the United States Black communities have been hit especially hard by this lethal combo, new research indicates.

Over a 12-year period, Black Americans have had much larger ...

Over 100,000 Americans Died From Drug Overdoses in One Year: Report

• Steven Reinberg HealthDay Reporter
• November 17, 2021
• Full Page

New government data confirms what many have suspected: The pandemic has prompted a record number of drug overdose deaths, with more than 100,000 Americans succumbing to addiction as COVID-19 raged across the country.

That figure is almost 30% higher than the previous yea...

DEA Warns of Fentanyl in Counterfeit Opioid Pills

• Cara Murez
• September 29, 2021
• Full Page

People buying pills that look like prescription opioid painkillers or stimulants who are not buying them from a licensed pharmacy may be buying a lethal drug, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration warned this week.

This was the first public safety alert the DEA has is...

U.S. Meth Overdose Deaths Tripled in Recent Years

• Steven Reinberg
• September 23, 2021
• Full Page

Deaths from methamphetamine overdoses in the United States nearly tripled between 2015 and 2019, health officials report in a new study.

While the number of methamphetamine users did not increase as steeply, researchers said frequent use of methamphetamine, and using oth...

Meth Abuse Drove Huge Surge in Heart Failure Crises in California

• Denise Mann HealthDay Reporter
• July 14, 2021
• Full Page

In a finding that demonstrates methamphetamine's power to destroy the human heart, new research shows hospitalizations for heart failure related to the illicit drug have soared by 585% in California.

"Our study results should bring urgent attention to this insidious, yet...

Other Health Woes Common When Meth Addiction Strikes

• Robert Preidt
• June 4, 2021
• Full Page

Methamphetamine users are at increased risk for physical and mental health problems as well as other substance use disorders, new research shows.

Meth is an illegal and highly addictive stimulant drug that can harm organs such as the heart, lungs, liver and neurological ...

Rising U.S. Deaths After Users Mix Coke, Meth With an Opioid

• Alan Mozes HealthDay Reporter
• April 2, 2021
• Full Page

Overdose deaths resulting from a dangerous combination of cocaine and opioids are outpacing fatalities linked to cocaine abuse alone, a new U.S. government report warns.

"Much of the increase in the rate of drug overdose deaths involving cocaine in recent years is due to...

Lockdowns Tied to Temporary Drops in Illicit Drug Seizures

• Robert Preidt
• March 5, 2021
• Full Page

Seizures of illegal drugs fell sharply in the United States during early COVID-19 lockdowns, but spiked once stay-at-home orders eased.

Researchers studied seizures of marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and fentanyl in five locations between March 2019 (a year b...

Meth Overdose Deaths Are Surging in America, With Minorities Most at Risk

• Steven Reinberg
• January 22, 2021
• Full Page

Deaths from overdoses of methamphetamine are rising across the United States, especially among Blacks and American Indians/Alaska Natives, a new study warns.

"While much attention is focused on the opioid crisis, a methamphetamine crisis has been quietly, but actively, g...

Two-Drug Combo May Help Fight Meth Addiction

• Alan Mozes HealthDay Reporter
• January 20, 2021
• Full Page

In what may signal a seismic shift in the treatment of methamphetamine addiction, a pair of prescription drugs appears to help patients significantly reduce their stimulant use, or quit altogether.

The combination therapy involves an injectable medication called extended...

Meth Use, Addiction on the Rise Among Americans: CDC

• Steven Reinberg
• March 26, 2020
• Full Page

Methamphetamine use is soaring again, with nearly one million Americans hooked on it, according to federal health officials.

Between 2015 and 2018, about 53% of the 1.6 million meth users were addicted to it and slightly more than 22% said they injected the ...

U.S. Saw Big Rise in Meth, Fentanyl Use in 2019

• E.J. Mundell
• January 3, 2020
• Full Page

A study of over 1 million urine drug tests from across the United States shows soaring rates of use of methamphetamines and fentanyl, often used together in potentially lethal ways.

The drug test results came primarily from clinics dealing with primary care, pain man...

Opioid-Meth Habit Particularly Hard to Break

• Robert Preidt
• December 31, 2019
• Full Page

Opioid addiction is tough enough to beat, but new research shows that having an accompanying methamphetamine habit may make quitting far more difficult.

For the study, researchers looked at 799 people receiving opioid addiction treatment at three sites in Washington ...

One Region Is Being Hit Hardest by U.S. Opioid Crisis

• Dennis Thompson
• October 25, 2019
• Full Page

More people die from drug overdoses in the northeastern U.S. than other regions, making it a major hotbed of the nation's opioid epidemic, a new federal report says.

Fueled mainly by fentanyl and heroin, overdose (OD) deaths are soaring in an area that runs east from...

AHA News: Meth and Heart Disease: A Deadly Crisis That's Largely Overlooked

• August 21, 2019
• Full Page

Although frequently overshadowed by the opioid epidemic, surging methamphetamine use nationally and around the world has fueled a chilling crisis of its own, according to a new report.

The result is a significant increase in meth-related deaths from unique cardiovas...

How Does Meth Trigger Heart Disease? New Research Offers Clues

• Robert Preidt
• August 1, 2019
• Full Page

Autopsies have uncovered new insight into how the illegal drug methamphetamine harms the heart.

Preliminary findings presented Thursday at an American Heart Association meeting, in Boston, suggest that meth triggers a buildup of tough protein fibers known as collagen...

Fentanyl Becoming a Deadly Accomplice in Cocaine, Meth Abuse

• Robert Preidt
• May 6, 2019
• Full Page

As if using cocaine or methamphetamines isn't risky enough, new research shows a sharp spike in urine drug tests that are positive for those drugs and the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl.

The findings could provide insight into steeply rising rates of cocai...

Meth Abuse Driving Big Spike in Syphilis Cases

• Steven Reinberg
• February 14, 2019
• Full Page

A startling increase in syphilis cases among Americans may be linked to addiction to methamphetamine and other drugs, federal health officials said Thursday.

Between 2013 and 2017, the rate of syphilis infection among heterosexual men and women who use methamphetamin...