我們需要不會令人上癮的止痛藥大綱

Medically speaking, I've noticed over the years that we can be infected by US health problems. A case in point is opioid addiction, which affects 65,000 people annually in the US and is the leading cause of death in people under 50. That could never happen here you say, we're too careful to let potent painkillers get out of hand. Don't be too sure.

從醫學角度來說，我發現隨着時間的推移，我們可能會感染一些存在於美國的健康問題。一個典型的例子就是阿片類成癮。在美國，阿片類上癮每年影響65000人，也是50歲以下人羣的主要死亡原因。你會說在我國永遠都不會發生這種情況，我們十分小心，不會讓強效止痛藥失去控制。但不要太過肯定哦。

A paper published in 2013 highlighted a rise in tramadol (an opioid) deaths in the UK. In 1996, tramadol was linked to one death in England and Wales. By 2011, it accounted for 154. The report called for close monitoring of "any increase in deaths caused by opioid analgesics because it may signal an emerging problem in the UK similar to the issue that's now well established in the USA".

2013年發表的一篇文章強調了英國曲馬多（一種阿片類藥物）致死人數在增加。1996年，曲馬多隻導致英格蘭和威爾士一起死亡事件。到2011年，卻造成了154起死亡事件。報道呼籲密切監測"由類阿片鎮痛藥導致的死亡人數增加，因爲這可能表明英國正出現類似於美國已確立存在的問題。"

We now have painkillers that are much more powerful than morphine and far more dangerous. Fentanyl is such a drug, 150-200 times as strong as morphine and more addictive. In 2015, there were 330,445 high-risk opioid users in the UK, the highest in Europe. Scripts for opioids doubled between 2000-2012 and were for longer. And hospital admissions for overdoses doubled between 2005 and 2017.

現在的止痛藥比嗎啡更強大，也更爲危險。芬太尼就是這類藥物，比嗎啡的藥效強150至200倍，也更令人上癮。2015年，英國有330445名高風險的阿片類藥物使用者，位居歐洲之首。2000年至2012年間，阿片類藥物的使用情況翻了一番。而在2005年至2017年間，由於過量服用而住院的人數也翻了一番。

In 2015, there were 34 deaths due to fentanyl and 51 because of oxycodone. By 2017, these figures were 58 and 75 respectively. When I was a practising doctor the use of morphine was a last resort. But over the last 20 years it's become acceptable to prescribe opioids routinely. Now, they're seen almost as a standard treatment for short and intermediate pain problems. This has gradually segued into long-term use.

2015年，芬太尼和羥考酮導致的死亡事件分別爲34例和51例。至2017年，這一數字分別漲至58例和75例。當我還是一名執業醫生的時候，使用嗎啡是萬不得已的方法。但在過去20年間，人們已接受使用阿片類藥物。現在，它們已幾乎被視作治療短期和中期疼痛的標準治療方法。並且慢慢的被人們長期使用。

Could the answer be new opioids that relieve pain but are non-?addictive? Some promising research from the US gives us hope. Over three years, researchers from the University of North Carolina have identified the exact part of the opioid molecule that relieves pain.

這是不是因爲緩解疼痛的新阿片類藥物會令人上癮？美國一些具有前景的研究給了我們希望。過去3年內，北卡羅來納大學的研究人員已經確定了阿片類分子緩解疼痛的確切部分。