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Health and Wealthness is a podcast where your hosts, Emily Weigel and Hanaa Khan discuss pressing and trending topics about health and wealth that everyone should know about. Our first four episodes focus on the opioid crisis. Both the science and healthcare sides. We then go on to talk about burnout and mental health in a conversational episode.
The opioid crisis is a dangerous public health issue on the rise among college students involved in Greek organizations. This study investigated what first-year students involved in National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) sororities and Interfraternity Council (IFC) fraternities at Arizona State University (ASU) know about opioids and how to react in the event of an opioid overdose to provide recommendations for ASU. Data was collected by surveying first-year NPC and IFC students at ASU on their knowledge and behavior patterns regarding opioids and overdoses. Additionally, a series of interviews with large public universities in the United States were conducted to discuss resources available to students. It was found that the fraternity and sorority members surveyed have an inadequate amount of knowledge about opioids and overdoses, but have less experiences with opioids and/or overdoses compared to non-Greek affiliated students at ASU. It is believed that with proper education and access to resources, students will decrease their risk of experiencing an overdose. This research provided the basis to argue for educational programs and resources being provided to students at ASU.
Experimental conditions, in a series of different studies, included comparing heroin reinforcers with sucrose, chemogenetically modulating the insular cortex (both stimulatory and inhibitory processes) and administering excitotoxic lesions in the insula. There were significant differences in saving behaviors between heroin and sucrose groups demonstrating an opioid induced loss of prosocial behavior. Modulating the insula chemogenetically resulted in some restoration of these opioid related deficits, and insular lesions did not significantly impact prosocial behaviors, however, there were significant differences between rates of heroin intake in lesioned animals versus non-lesioned controls. Taken together, these results demonstrate the deleterious effects of heroin on prosocial behaviors and offer further support for the role of the insula in both addiction and social constructs.