Women More Likely to Get Addicted, Overdose; Too Little Sleep May Lead to Relapse
Researchers conducting this study explored how the opioid epidemic in the U.S. continues and evolved during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The data show that women have been and continue to make up the majority of those prescribed opioids for pain treatment.
The findings also show that use of prescribed opioids for pain management became the primary conduit to abuse and addiction for women. The critical finding: Mitigation efforts in opioid prescribing have been followed by increases in the use of other substances, such as heroin and fentanyl, in both men and women. Although the rate of opioid use and overdose is higher in men, women have a higher rate of overdose death. Understanding how opioid use and addiction affect men and women differently is central to ending the epidemic.
