Best break for toddlers (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Karol studied Kaltenbach treatment for pregnant drug addicts. Posted on Mon, 13 December 2010 by Mary McCullough Inquirer staff WriterKarol Kaltenbach is devoted to a customer that the majority of the company would even think not instead: hooked on maternal opiates such as heroin.

As Director of treatment of maternal drug abuse and research in the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Thomas Jefferson, Kaltenbach knows all too well that these women are stigmatized, underserved - and difficult help because their needs are extensive and complex.

This is why it is excited by the results of a major international study, she helped lead that compared treatment for pregnant drug addicts.

A drug called buprenorphine has worked as well as standard, current to maintain harmful women off most opiate methadone. Best, buprenorphine was drama benefits when the women gave birth. It caused much less hyper-irritabilité, feeding difficulties, digestive upsets and other hardships in their newborns as infants of opioid withdrawal.

Methadone and buprenorphine are narcotics synthetic with side effects such as euphoria. But buprenorphine, approved for the treatment of drug addiction in 2002, works in a manner that reduces hazards opiates such as sedation, slowed breathing and overdose.

Two studies of elderly buprenorphine - two lowercase - was inconsistent results in infants.

"These are very difficult to carry out studies," Kaltenbach said, because of restrictions on eligibility, protocols and high dropout rates. Women in the new study, for example to display every day to get their medications. If they missed five days, they were disqualified.

Ultimately, eight sites including Jefferson, 131 women completed the study. All babies have withdrawal symptoms, but those exposed to buprenorphine was in need of intensive therapy for an average of four days and are returned after 10 days, then that exposed infants methodone need 10 days of care and 18 days in the hospital.

"It is extremely rewarding," said Kaltenbach. "We believe that it will transform clinical practice."

And, hopefully, reduce the costs. The study, published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine, noted that the United States spent up to $ 112 million last year to treat babies born in opiate addicts.

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