Tag Archives: @JamaPsych

Yoga May Help Reduce Opioid Withdrawal Symptoms Through Restoring Autonomic Balance

Posted on by

PainRelief.com Interview with:
Dr. Hemant Bhargav, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Integrative Medicine
National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS)
Hosur Main Road, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India 560029

Opioid withdrawal is marked by sympathovagal imbalance, the fight or flight response system of the body remains overactive while its calming system is underactive. This dysregulation contributes to anxiety, poor sleep, pain, and heightened relapse vulnerability. While medications like buprenorphine effectively manage withdrawal symptoms, they do not fully restore this autonomic balance, representing a critical therapeutic gap.


PainRelief.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Opioid withdrawal is marked by sympathovagal imbalance, the fight or flight response system of the body remains overactive while its calming system is underactive. This dysregulation contributes to anxiety, poor sleep, pain, and heightened relapse vulnerability. While medications like buprenorphine effectively manage withdrawal symptoms, they do not fully restore this autonomic balance, representing a critical therapeutic gap.

Pages: 1 2

Columbia Model Predicts Return-to-Use Risk After Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder

Posted on by

PainRelief.com Interview with:
SEAN X. LUO, M.D., PH.D.
Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry
Data Science Research Group
Division on Substance Use Disorders
Department of Psychiatry
Columbia University

PainRelief.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Opioid use disorder presents a major public health crisis, with increasing overdose death through the last 5 years. Treatment delivery continues to be difficult, with a large number of patients not stably maintained on Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) after the initial treatment engagement.

In this study we applied novel statistical methods to a newly harmonized dataset incorporating 3 large clinical trials from the National Drug Treatment Clinical Trials Network (CTN) to develop individual level risk prediction models for opioid use disorder. We showed that urine toxicology data in the first 3 weeks after initiation of treatment can predict return-to-use at the end of 3 months with surprising accuracy.

Continue reading →