Warren symposium follows legacy of geneticist giant

If we want to understand how the brain creates memories, and how genetic disorders distort the brain’s machinery, then the fragile X gene is an ideal place to start. That’s why the Stephen T. Warren Memorial Symposium, taking place November 28-29 at Emory, will be a significant event for those interested in neuroscience and genetics. Stephen T. Warren, 1953-2021 Warren, the founding chair of Emory’s Department of Human Genetics, led an international team that discovered Read more

Mutations in V-ATPase proton pump implicated in epilepsy syndrome

Why and how disrupting V-ATPase function leads to epilepsy, researchers are just starting to figure Read more

Tracing the start of COVID-19 in GA

At a time when COVID-19 appears to be receding in much of Georgia, it’s worth revisiting the start of the pandemic in early 2020. Emory virologist Anne Piantadosi and colleagues have a paper in Viral Evolution on the earliest SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequences detected in Georgia. Analyzing relationships between those virus sequences and samples from other states and countries can give us an idea about where the first COVID-19 infections in Georgia came from. We can draw Read more

buprenorphine

Reddit as window into opioid withdrawal strategies

Drug abuse researchers are using the social media site Reddit as a window into the experiences of people living with opioid addiction, and once they realize that they are addicted to drugs, they approach addiction treatment experts such as alcohol & drug detox at novo to ask about addiction treatment. Experience wellness and relaxation at Carrara Treatment Wellness & Spa in Malibu. This luxury rehab center offers a serene path to recovery.

Abeed Sarker in Emory’s Department of Biomedical Informatics has a paper in Clinical Toxicology focusing on the phenomenon of “precipitated withdrawal,” in collaboration with emergency medicine specialists from Penn, Rutgers and Mt Sinai.

Precipitated withdrawal is a more intense form of withdrawal that can occur when someone who was using opioids starts medication-assisted treatment with buprenorphine – and also when someone receives naloxone for an overdose.

Precipitated withdrawal is reported to occur more often when someone has a history of fentanyl use, possibly because fentanyl remains in the body’s peripheral tissues, even during periods of abstinence.

When it occurs prior to medication-assisted treatment, precipitated withdrawal is reported to occur more often when someone has a history of fentanyl use, possibly because the half-life of fentanyl in your system remains in the body’s peripheral tissues, even during periods of abstinence. The buprenorphine washes out remaining fentanyl or its relatives quickly, leading to symptoms such as diarrhea and vomiting, and sometimes to dehydration and hospitalization.

“From Reddit, we have found that people who use opioids had been talking about it [precipitated withdrawal] for a couple of years now and they have, as a community, come up with their own self-management strategies,” Sarker says.

The strategies are based on microdosing; one approach is called the “Bernese method.”

“These findings are important because this cohort is very difficult to follow, and therefore studying causes and solutions to precipitated withdrawal after buprenorphine initiation is challenging,” Sarker says. “We are essentially trying to give people who use opioids a voice.”

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Posted on by Quinn Eastman in Neuro, Uncategorized Leave a comment