Opioids And Addiction with Dr. Anna Lembke

While still considered a public health crisis, there is a bit of hopeful news in the fight against the opioid epidemic. For the first time since the crisis hit in the 1990’s, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports overdose deaths dropped in 2018, down four percent from 2017. And yet, that lower number still accounts for more than sixty seven thousand Americans who lost their lives to overdoses, close to an annual record high.Dr. Anna Lembke knows we have a long way to go before declaring the opioid crisis in hand, or addiction in general, but chooses to be optimistic that these first signs of progress are indicators we’re on the right track. As the Medical Director of Addiction Medicine at the Stanford School of Medicine, Chief of the Stanford Health Care Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic, and Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Dr. Lembke is on the front lines of addiction research, treatment, and public education. Her 2016 book, “Drug Dealer, MD: How Doctors Were Duped, Patients Got Hooked, And Why It’s So Hard To Stop,” shone one of the earliest spotlights on the epidemic, including the role of the drug’s makers and distributors, duplicitous research, misinformed prescribing practices, as well as the breadth of the emergency and its terrible toll on American communities.In this episode of What Makes Up Your Mind, Dr. Lembke discusses the appropriate role of opioids as short term pain relievers, the dangerous changes that occur in our brains with prolonged use of opioids and other addictive substances, how to recognize such dependence in ourselves and our loved ones, and how to begin to address it. In addition you’ll hear her make the convincing case for bringing addiction into “the house of medicine” to create a successful continuum of care.For more on Dr. Lembke’s work, research and scholarly writings: med.stanford.edu/profiles/anna-lembkeLinks referenced in the program: Stanford Health Care Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic stanfordhealthcare.org/medical-clini…agnosisClinicFree online CME course “BRAVO” on how to taper patients on chronic opioid therapy med.stanford.edu/cme/courses/onli…pioid-taper.html