Regional Medical Center | Thrive for Life | Spring 2018

DRUG ABUSE crosses all walks of life and socioeconomic conditions. Tolerance and dependency can develop quickly. When tolerance becomes addiction, it can be tough to overcome. Addiction is a primary, chronic and relapsing brain disease whereby an individual seeks reward and relief with substance use. But a deadly overdose doesn’t even require a past addiction. In 2016, overdose deaths in the U.S. reached nearly 64,000—the largest one-year increase ever recorded, at more than 21 percent—based on the latest statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics. Worse yet, evidence suggests continued escalation in 2017. Drug overdoses are the leading cause of accidental death in Americans under 50. While heroin is often the cause, opioid addiction has become more deadly with the influx of illegally manufactured drugs. The 2016 spike is attributed in part to the spread of fentanyl, a synthetic prescription painkiller that is 50 times more powerful than heroin. Drug overdose deaths in the U.S. among teens 15 to 19 years of age climbed 19 percent in one year (2014 to 2015), from 3.1 deaths per 100,000 to 3.7 per 100,000, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Most are unintentional and driven primarily by opioids, including both prescribed painkillers such as oxycodone and Regional Medical Center 12 The haunting headline ADDICTIO We can help To learn more about our substance abuse treatment services, visit rmccares.org / inspire- treatment-services . Study: Opioid epidemic increasingly reaching newborn 11 middle schoolers hospitalized after sharing Xanax... 10 hours, 15 overdoses... Woman who trafficked daughter for heroin sentenced... SUBSTANCE ABUSE