Det fins mange meninger og heftige debatter rundt rusmisbruk, f.eks. om problemene skal behandles av helsevesenet eller i rettssystemet. I det ERC-finansierte prosjektet OPIOIDREWARD undersøker vi ruseffekter på en original måte, og spør kort sagt om hvordan du har det påvirker hvordan du 'tar det'. Ved å systematisk endre hvordan folk har det *før* rusbruk kan vi kartlegge mekanismene involvert i såkalt selvmedisinering, altså bruk av rus for å oppnå lettelse snarere enn nytelse.
FORSTERK-prosjektet tilknyttet OPIOIDREWARD bidrar med formidling av funnene fra dette grunnforskningsprosjektet:
1. 1. Vi har laget nye verktøy for å bestemme optimal dose av opioidantagonister og vil formidle disse bredt.
1.2. Vi har også laget nye oppsett for å oppnå negativt stress hos frivillige i laboratorieundersøkelser. Vi vil lage en verktøykasse som tilgjengeliggjør denne informasjonen for andre forskere via nettet.
2. Vi har samlet inn kliniske data som viser at noen legemidlene som brukes ved kirurgiske inngrep på norske sykehus, ikke har de forventede effektene når det gjelder rus eller godt humør, men snarere virker mot sin hensikt. Vi vil gå bredt ut for å formidle disse funnene til norske leger og sykepleiere.
As the use of opioid analgesics continues to increase in Norway, we ask: what makes these drugs so addictive? Tremendous resources have been dedicated to charting how people feel after taking a drug, sidestepping the influence of how people feel before they take the drug. In the ERC funded project OPIOIDREWARD, we have turned that approach on its head.
The results from this basic science project are helping to resolve hotly debated scientific questions on drug reward and addiction. In addition to the expected outcomes from the project, we have generated tools and insights of high relevance to science and society:
1. Research tools:
1.1. The project has generated key insights into dose determination of opioid antagonist drugs used in clinically and in research to block the brain’s own opioid receptors. These insights will be implemented as open web applications for use by clinicians and researchers.
1.2. To achieve the aims of OPIOIDREWARD, we have established two novel implementations of a stress induction task. We will create an online toolbox to share the specifications of each implementation for use in research.
2. Norwegian clinical findings:
2.1. In parallel to the basic science project, we measure effects of opioid analgesics as they are currently used in Norwegian hospitals. Our results indicate that some opioids can actually reduce patients’ well-being, contrary to common belief. Broad dissemination of the results will help optimise current treatment of surgical patients in Norway.
Supplementary funding is sought to prepare materials and disseminate these tools and data to researchers and clinicians in Norway via:
i) informational websites;
ii) web applications;
iii) presentations at national meetings for e.g. nursing and anaestesia;
iv) public outreach writing;
v) press releases to national media;
vi) reproducible research tutorials on research tool sharing for Norwegian researchers; and
vii) a topical workshop for interested Norwegian researchers.