Diets increase risk of opioid addiction

Could a diet high in processed sugars make adults and children more susceptible to overdose and opioid addiction?

New research, by our lab of behavioral neuroscience at the University of Guelph, indicates that it could.

Around 20,000 people died of fentanyl-related overdoses from the US last year and in Canada there have been at least 2,816 opioid-related deaths. During 2017far, over 1,000 people have died of drug overdoses from British Columbia.

Schools are now stocking up on the overdose-reversing drug naloxone and universities have been teaching personnel to administer the drug.

Nobody is speaking about sugar.

And there’s considerable experimental evidence that sugar can encourage behaviours by activating the rewards centers of the brain in the identical manner as medications that are addictive.

A Individual’s high fructose corn syrup ingestion might change how exposed they are to opioid addiction (file photo)

Abuse can be related to poor dietary habits, including preferences for meals, as well as malnutrition.

These connections have resulted in questions of if excessive ingestion of sugar can influence exposure to addiction.

To explore the possible function of a sugar-rich daily diet in opioid dependence, we investigated if infinite access to high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) shifted rats’ neural and behavioral reactions to the semi-synthetic opioid, oxycodone.

Our findings suggest that a diet high in corn syrup can dampen the benefit and might therefore encourage ingestion of higher levels of the drug.

OPIOIDS, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP AND ADDICTION

High sugar is an elegant sugar which typically contains fructose than sugar. It is a widely used food additive in North America, produced by corn that is processed.

Though it’s utilized in many foods that are processed, its use in soft drinks seems to have the biggest impact on health.

In fact, there is a significant connection between consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks and weight reduction, metabolic diabetes and hypertension.

Recently, our lab has been exploring the impact of HFCS on brain markers and behaviours of dependence in lab rats.

FENTANYL: THE OPIOID RAVAGING AMERICAN CITIES 

The versions of fentanyl are prescribed to relieve pain related to advanced cancer.

Illegally-made fentanyl, that can be ordered from China or bought from Mexico, is mixed with heroin or cocaine.

Other names for the drug purchased on the web or by a trafficker contain:

• Apache
• China Girl
• China Town
• Dance Fever
• Friend
• Goodfellas
• Amazing Bear
• He-Man
• Jackpot
• King Ivory
• Murder 8
• Tango & Cash 

In 1 study creatures had unrestricted around-the-clock access to bottles containing a water solution.

After a month of voluntary drinking, the bottles have been eliminated and, after a few times, animals’ behavioral and neural responses to oxycodone have been assessed.

Very similar to other opioids, pharmacological effects which have analgesia, euphoria and feelings of comfort are induced by oxycodone. Some frequent street titles contain: ‘hillbilly heroin’, ‘ ‘perc’, also ‘OC’.

Oxycodone is the active ingredient in a number of formulations which include intravenous injections, instant launch solutions/capsules (Percocet, Percodan, OXY IR, OXY FAST), and prolonged release preparations (OxyContin).

Oxycodone is highly addictive and has influenced the lives of North Americans. There are quotes that its consumption increased by almost 500 percent.

The US National Survey on Drug Use and Health demonstrated that approximately 27.9 million people aged 12 or older used oxycodone products.

Additionally, 4.3 million people aged 12 or older reported misusing oxycodone-containing products in the past year.

DAMPENING DRUG’S REWARD MAY INCREASE USE

At the neural level, HFCS exposure diminished launch of dopamine, and this will be a neurotransmitter active within the mind’s reward circuits.

What’s more, at low doses, sedative drugs like opioids and alcohol generally interfere with inhibition and excite a number of ‘psychomotor’ behaviours – such as sociability, extroversion, talkativeness, sensation and interest in novelty.

Our study in rats found that exposure to the high fructose corn syrup reduced this psychomotor stimulation.

Our experiments reveal that exposure to high fructose corn syrup had an impact on both the neurological and behavioural reactions to oxycodone, leading to changes going to affect drug-seeking and drug-taking behaviour.

They suggest that a high sugar diet can dampen the benefit related to a specified dose of oxycodone. And that this might cause people to eat more of the drug.

These results suggest that higher fructose corn syrup ingestion in particular, and nourishment, can influence reactions to opioids – a finding which may be applicable either to uses of opioids as well as treatment of dependence.

We could win the war on opioid addiction simply if we tackle the issue.

Those of different labs, and our findingsindicate that prevention of diets might not just help lower the epidemic, but also reduce.

This piece was originally published by The Conversation

Source

http://mailonsunday.co.uk/health/article-4986298/Sugary-diets-increase-risk-opioid-addiction.html

source http://www.rawkidsrecipes.com/diets-increase-risk-of-opioid-addiction/