What is Suboxone? Suboxone is the brand name for a medication approved for the treatment of opioid use disorder combining buprenorphine and naloxone. In other words, it is approved for the treatment of patients who suffer from addiction to opioids (such as heroin, oxycodone, fentanyl, morphine). Buprenorphine is the active ingredient of the medication. It works principally as a partial agonist to the mu-opioid receptors of the brain, i.e. it partially…
What is naltrexone? Naltrexone is a medication approved for the treatment of opioid use disorder (opioid dependence). It blocks the μ (mu) opioid receptor in the brain, displacing most other opioids and rendering them basically inactive in that regard. If a person under treatment with naltrexone, takes an opioid (e.g. heroin, oxycodone, hydrocodone etc), the opioid ingestedcannot activate the μ opioid receptors and thus exert its actions to the body…
Alcohol use disorder (alcohol addiction) What is alcohol use disorder? It’s the new term introduced in the latest diagnostic manual of the American Psychiatric Association for alcohol addiction (this syndrome was previously classified as 2 separate illnesses: alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence). How is alcohol use disorder defined? In simple words, it is defined by drinking alcohol in a problematic way which leads to impairment or distress and suffering from at least 2 of…