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Latest Mental Health News<\/h3>\n
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![\"News](\"https:\/\/media.healthday.com\/Images\/icimages\/coronavirus030520_2_big.jpg\"\/)
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FRIDAY, Sept. 18, 2020 (HealthDay News)<\/p>\n
People with addiction<\/a> disorders are at greater risk for COVID-19<\/a> and more likely to become seriously ill if infected, a new study finds.<\/p>\n The researchers analyzed non-identifiable electronic health records of more than 73 million patients in the United States. People with addiction<\/a> disorders accounted for just over 10% of those in the study, and nearly 16% of COVID-19<\/a> cases.<\/p>\n People with a recent addiction disorder diagnosis were more likely than others to develop COVID-19<\/a>, and the connection was strongest among those with opioid and tobacco use disorders, the findings showed.<\/p>\n The study also found that people with an addiction disorder were more likely to be hospitalized with or die from COVID-19<\/a>.<\/p>\n Study co-author Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse<\/a>, said people with addiction disorders often have compromised lungs<\/a> and cardiovascular systems, which may contribute to their heightened susceptibility for COVID-19<\/a>.<\/p>\n “Another contributing factor is the marginalization of people with addiction, which makes it harder for them to access health care services,” she said in a news release from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH).<\/p>\n Black people with a recent opioid use disorder diagnosis had more than four times the risk of COVID-19<\/a> than white people, the study found. High blood pressure<\/a>, diabetes<\/a>, heart disease<\/a> and kidney disease<\/a> — all risk factors for COVID-19 — were more common among Black patients than whites with opioid use disorder.<\/p>\n The NIH-funded study was published Sept. 14 in the journal Molecular Psychiatry<\/i>. The authors suggested that health care providers closely monitor patients with addiction disorders and take steps to protect them from coronavirus infection and severe outcomes.<\/p>\n “It is incumbent upon clinicians to meet the unique challenges of caring for this vulnerable population, just as they would any other high-risk group,” Volkow said in the news release.<\/p>\n — Robert Preidt<\/p>\n ![\"MedicalNews\"](\"https:\/\/images.medicinenet.com\/images\/HealthDay\/healthday.png\")
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