Number of babies born in the withdrawal of drugs is on the rise

Each year, an alarming number of babies born in the United States spend their first days to withdraw from drugs, prescription painkillers often with their mothers took during pregnancy. This problem, called neonatal abstinence (NAS) syndrome, has quadrupled since 2004, according to a report published online today in the New England Journal of Medicine. 

NAS occurs in many babies whose mothers have taken a type of medicine called an opioid during pregnancy. (Two opioids are used OxyContin and Vicodin.) These drugs pass easily from the bloodstream of the mother to child. They can be addictive and are often abused. Indeed, the NAS is a baby opioid withdrawal.

Babies with NAS are more rigid and more irritable than normal babies. They do not eat well, and therefore do not gain weight as well. Some seizures. With medication and time, infants with NAS improve, but they need to spend time in hospital. In short, they get a difficult start in life that can reconfigure and can have long effects.

For the new study, researchers at several medical centers in the United States analyzed the records of nearly 700,000 infants treated at 299 neonatal intensive care units across the country between 2004 and 2013. During this period, the number of 'children treated for NAS It has nearly quadrupled, from 7 cases per 1,000 children admitted to neonatal intensive care units of 27 cases by 1000. 

Day neonatal intensive care needed to treat infants with NAS increased sevenfold. The report was published yesterday, coinciding with the presentation of the results at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies in San Diego.

In the study, the main cause of the ENA was taking methadone mothers during pregnancy, which represents almost a third of cases. Methadone is a medication used to treat drug addiction, particularly addiction to heroin. The second most common reason for NAS mothers taking opioid analgesics.

Options for pain safer   

The number of prescriptions of opioid analgesics has skyrocketed in recent years, as the number of people dependent on opiates. Some opioid prescriptions are written for pregnant women. A study published online in the journal Pediatrics found that 28% of pregnant women with Medicaid in Tennessee has received at least one prescription for an opioid analgesic during pregnancy.

With so many security options for pain management, women who are pregnant should use opioids only if these drugs are absolutely necessary. Doctors can often recommend other effective pain control that are safer for baby options.

Because opiates are so addictive, many people become dependent on them. Pregnant women are no different - some are addicted before they get pregnant, others become addicted during pregnancy. In any case, the child's health is at stake. 

With opiate addiction on the rise, it is likely that the number of infants with NAS will continue to rise, too. It is often difficult for someone in the grip of addiction to a healthy change. That is why it is important for partners, family and friends of pregnant women are aware of this problem. Sometimes it is best to speak, to support and make a difference. Studies like this that draw attention to the most vulnerable, and totally innocent younger victims opioids may also help galvanize fight opiate addiction once and for all.