The use of opiates like methadone to treat pain is controversial because they are linked to negative health outcomes. According to Laxmaiah Manchikant M.D. in a 2009 article in "Pain Physician," prolonged use of opiates has been associated with adverse consequences. Although, methadone use is on the rise, it is mostly used for heroine withdrawal treatment and as a long-lasting pain reliever, note Sumeet S. Chugh and colleagues in a January 2008 article in the "American Journal of Medicine."
Insomnia
Methadone disturbs sleep, especially in people who receive chronic methadone treatment, as noted by George Trksak and associates in study published in 2010 in "Drug and Alcohol Dependence." Methadone was found to affect brain waves related to sleep. According to the study, periods of sleep that were supposed to be longer and more efficient were found to be shorter and less efficient. The researchers suspect that this outcome has to do with alterations in brain chemistry caused by methadone.
Memory
Methadone can cause impaired memory functions, particularly with working memory and verbal memory, according to Pekka Rapelli and Colleagues in a 2007 article in "BMC Clinical Pharmacology." Working memory is the short-term storage of digits, words, names or other items. Verbal memory is the ability to remember words and abstract concepts related to language, like deception.
Attention
Methadone affects the brain in a way that interferes with cognitive processes. Rapelli and colleagues found that methadone-treated patients had deficits in attention; they had slower reaction times reflecting a lack of alertness. The frontal lobes are the area of the brain largely involved with a variety of attention-related tasks, according to Bryan Kolb and Ian Whishaw in "The Fundamentals of Human Neuropsychology," and, therefore, likely to be affected by methadone.
References
- "Pain Physician"; Prevalence of Side Effects of Prolonged Low or Moderate Dose Opioid Therapy with Concomitant Benzodiazepine and/or Antidepressant Therapy in Chronic Non-Cancer Pain; Laxmaiah Manchikanti, M.D. et al.; 2009
- "American Journal of Medicine"; A Community-Based Evaluation of Sudden Death Associated with Therapeutic Levels of Methadone; Sumeet S. Chugh, M.D. et al.; January 2010
- "Drug and Alcohol Dependence"; Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Sleep Homeostasis and Restoration During Methadone-Maintenance: A [31]P MRS brain imaging study; George H. Trksak, et al.; 2010
- "BMC Clinical Pharmacology"; Methadone vs. Buprenorphine/Naloxone During Early Opioid Substitution Treatment: a Naturalistic Comparison of Cognitive Performance Relative to Healthy Controls; Pekka Rapelli et al.; 2007
- "The Fundamentals of Human Neuropsychology"; Brian Kolb and Ian Ian Whishaw; 2003
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