Opioids

The number of babies born drug dependent continues to increase. In Greater Cincinnati and elsewhere neonatologists are looking for answers.

Cincinnati Union Bethel's Off The Streets program has been helping women involved in prostitution and sex trafficking for a decade. 

In just one week this summer, there were more than 175 heroin overdoses reported in the Cincinnati area. 

As the heroin crisis continues across the country and here in Greater Cincinnati, news and media organizations have been trying to explore and expose the many aspects of drug abuse, the individuals fighting addiction and community response to the epidemic.

In the past three weeks, there have been nearly 300 overdoses and three deaths from heroin in the Cincinnati area. These are unprecedented numbers and the situation is nothing short of a public health emergency. 

It’'s not easy dealing with chronic pain, and medical professionals often resort to prescribing their patients opiates, which can become addictive and lead to more problems. 

Named one of the best books of 2015, Dreamland: The True Tale of America’'s Opiate Epidemic by journalist Sam Quinones, provides a detailed look at the opiate epidemic devastating much of America today. Mr. Quinones tracks the origins of the heroin crisis, the dramatic growth of opiate abuse and its tragic devastation.

The heroin epidemic is taking a terrible toll on families and straining health providers, social service agencies and the legal system, nationally and here in Greater Cincinnati. People and organizations on both sides of the Ohio river have been working together to combat the dramatic rise in drug abuse and provide addicts and their families with the care and help they need.

As opioid abuse skyrockets out of control, University of Cincinnati Health researchers are trying to zero in on fresh alternatives for the estimated 100 million people who suffer from chronic pain.

Principal investigator of a $1.95 million federal grant, Jun-Ming Zhang, MD, is studying the roles of the  nervous system and immune system in preclinical models of back and neuropathic pain.