Social and Medical Problems in Children of Heroin-Addicted Parents

Reasons for Rehospitalization in Children Who Had Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome

“…Opioids may interfere with neurologic development, resulting in physiologic, 10 psychological, 11 and behavioral 11 dysfunction up to adolescence. 11 The addition of environmental stress, due to chaotic home environments, parental dysfunction, and economic deprivation such as poverty and malnutrition may further affect child health and development, 12,13 which in turn could lead to future and more serious adult outcomes, even until old age. 14 Early identification and treatment of health issues in childhood in the important "first 1000 days from conception to 2 years of age" may significantly modulate adult health outcomes.…”

Annotation: The Psychological Development and Welfare of Children of Opiate and Cocaine Users: Review and Research Needs

“…The practical consequence of accepting these models and their associated assumptions is that children of drug users tend to be more carefully scrutinised than those of non-drug users. International studies indicate that they are more likely to be hospitalised for common childhood illnesses and for minor illnesses than are children of non-drug users, and to have their discharge from hospital delayed because medical staff are concerned about parental ability to provide care and to cope with stress (Casado-Flores et al, 1990 ;Wilson et al, 1979). In the U.S., drug users are more likely to have their children permanently removed into care by the courts, especially if they use heroin or cocaine, and to be given fewer chances to prove their adequacy as parents before such a removal than parents who are addicted to alcohol (Murphy et al, 1991).…”

Morphine Inhibits Purkinje Cell Survival and Dendritic Differentiation in Organotypic Cultures of the Mouse Cerebellum

“…Alterations in nutrition (72) and thyroid hormone (10), for example, can in turn affect dendritic differentiation. Psychosocial factors can also affect dendritic development (13,68), suggesting that the psychosocial problems associated with opiate drug abuse (7,12,32,33,71) could indirectly affect dendrogenesis. Despite the potential importance of indirect opiate effects, our findings show that opiates, through a direct action on the cerebellum, can intrinsically affect the morphogenesis of Purkinje cell dendrites.…”

“…Psychosocial and physical problems are associated with opiate abuse, as well as concurrent multi-drug use, and opiate abstinence in newborns. These confounding effects make it difficult to assess the cellular mechanisms by which opiates by themselves affect neuronal development (7,12,32,33,71). To address this problem, opiate-dependent changes in Purkinje cell morphogenesis were examined in bilaterally matched pairs of organotypic cultures exposed to morphine for 7 to 10 days.…”