A drug overdose ( overdose or OD) is the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities much greater than are recommended.[ Retrieved on September 20, 2014.][ "Stairway to Recovery: Glossary of Terms" . Retrieved on March 19, 2021] Typically the term is applied for cases when a risk to health is a potential result.[ An overdose may result in a toxicity or death.]
Classification
The word "overdose" implies that there is a common safe dosage and usage for the drug; therefore, the term is commonly applied only to drugs, not , even though many poisons as well are harmless at a low enough dosage. Drug overdose is sometimes used as a means to commit suicide, as the result of intentional or unintentional misuse of medication. Intentional misuse leading to overdose can include using prescribed or non-prescribed drugs in excessive quantities in an attempt to produce euphoria.
Usage of illicit drugs, in large quantities, or after a period of drug abstinence can also induce overdose. Cocaine and opioid users who inject intravenously can easily overdose accidentally, as the margin between a pleasurable drug sensation and an overdose is small.[Study on fatal overdose in New-York City 1990-2000, visited May 11, 2008,] Unintentional misuse can include errors in dosage caused by failure to read or understand product labels. Accidental overdoses may also be the result of over-prescription, failure to recognize a drug's active ingredient or unwitting ingestion by children.["What to do with leftover medicines". Medicines Talk, Winter 2005. Available at ] A common unintentional overdose in young children involves containing iron.
The term 'overdose' is often misused as a descriptor for adverse drug reactions or negative due to polypharmacy.
Signs and symptoms
Signs and symptoms of an overdose vary depending on the drug, its ingredients, the amount consumed, and exposure to . The symptoms can often be divided into differing . This can help one determine what class of drug or toxin is causing the difficulties.
Symptoms of opioid overdoses include slow breathing, heart rate and pulse.
Causes
The drugs or that are most frequently involved in overdose and death (grouped by ICD-10):
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Acute alcohol intoxication (F10)
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Ethanol (alcohol)
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Methanol poisoning
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Ethylene glycol poisoning
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Opioid overdose (F11)
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Among sedative- (F13)
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Barbiturate overdose (T42.3)
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Benzodiazepine overdose (T42.4)
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Uncategorized sedative-hypnotics (T42.6)
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Among (F14-F15)
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Cocaine overdose (T40.5)
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Amphetamine overdose (T43.6)
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Methamphetamine overdose (T43.6)
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Among tobacco (F17)
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Nicotine poisoning (T65.2)
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Among poly drug use (F19)
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Drug "cocktails" (speedballs)
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Medications
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Aspirin poisoning (T39.0)
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Paracetamol poisoning (Alone or mixed with oxycodone)
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Paracetamol toxicity (T39.1)
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Tricyclic antidepressant overdose (T43.0)
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Vitamin poisoning
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Pesticide poisoning (T60)
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Organophosphate poisoning
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DDT
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Lithium toxicity
Added flavoring
Masking undesired taste may impair judgement of the potency, which is a factor in overdosing. For example, lean is usually created as a drinkable mixture, the cough syrup is combined with soft drinks, especially fruit-flavored drinks such as Sprite, Mountain Dew or Fanta, and is typically served in a foam cup.
Diagnosis
The substance that has been taken may often be determined by asking the person. However, if they will not, or cannot, due to an altered level of consciousness, provide this information, a search of the home or questioning of friends and family may be helpful.
Examination for , drug testing, or laboratory test may be helpful. Other laboratory test such as glucose, urea and , paracetamol levels and salicylate levels are typically done. Negative drug-drug interactions have sometimes been misdiagnosed as an acute drug overdose, occasionally leading to the assumption of suicide.[ "Column—Fatal Drug-Drug Interaction As a Differential Consideration in Apparent Suicides" .]
Prevention
The distribution of naloxone to injection drug users and other opioid drug users decreases the risk of death from overdose.
Supervised injection sites (also known as overdose prevention centers) have been used to help prevent drug overdoses by offering opioid reversal medications such as naloxone, medical assistance and treatment options. They also provide clean needles to help prevent the spread of diseases like HIV/AIDS and hepatitis.
Management
Stabilization of the person's airway, breathing, and circulation (ABCs) is the initial treatment of an overdose. Ventilation is considered when there is a low respiratory rate or when blood gases show the person to be hypoxic. Monitoring of the patient should continue before and throughout the treatment process, with particular attention to temperature, pulse, respiratory rate, blood pressure, urine output, electrocardiography (ECG) and O2 saturation.
Antidotes
Specific are available for certain overdoses. For example, naloxone is the antidote for such as heroin or morphine. Similarly, benzodiazepine overdoses may be effectively reversed with flumazenil. As a nonspecific antidote, activated charcoal is frequently recommended if available within one hour of the ingestion and the ingestion is significant.[
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Epidemiology and statistics
The UN gives a figure of 300,000 deaths per year in the world through drug overdose.
In the US around 84,100 people died in the 12-month period ending October 31, 2024, at a rate of 230 deaths per day. The peak was around 112,600 in 2022.[ Products - Vital Statistics Rapid Release - Provisional Drug Overdose Data. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hover cursor over the end of the graph in Figure 1A to get the latest number. Scroll down the page and click on the dropdown data table called "Data Table for Figure 1a. 12 Month-ending Provisional Counts of Drug Overdose Deaths". The number used is the "predicted value" for the 12 month period that is ending at the end of that month. That number changes as more info comes in. If there are problems use a different browser.] The U.S. drug overdose death rate has gone from 2.5 per 100,000 people in 1968 to the peak rate of 33.7 per 100,000 in 2022.[
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1,015,060 US residents died from drug overdoses from 1968 to 2019. 22 people out of every 100,000 died from drug overdoses in 2019 in the US.[Data is from these saved tables from CDC Wonder at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. The tables have totals, rates, and US populations per year.
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1968-1978 data: Compressed Mortality File 1968-1978. CDC WONDER Online Database, compiled from Compressed Mortality File CMF 1968-1988, Series 20, No. 2A, 2000. Accessed at http://wonder.cdc.gov/cmf-icd8.html on March 13, 2021, 5:04:32 PM.
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1979-1998 data: Compressed Mortality File 1979-1998. CDC WONDER On-line Database, compiled from Compressed Mortality File CMF 1968-1988, Series 20, No. 2A, 2000 and CMF 1989-1998, Series 20, No. 2E, 2003. Accessed at http://wonder.cdc.gov/cmf-icd9.html on March 13, 2021, 5:19:27 PM.
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1999-2019 data: Multiple Cause of Death 1999-2019. CDC WONDER Online Database, released in 2020. Data are from the Multiple Cause of Death Files, 1999-2019, as compiled from data provided by the 57 vital statistics jurisdictions through the Vital Statistics Cooperative Program. Accessed at http://wonder.cdc.gov/mcd-icd10.html on March 13, 2021, 5:05:13 PM.
From 1999 to Feb 2019 in the United States, more than 770,000 people have died from drug overdoses.[ STATCAST—Week of September 9, 2019. NCHS Releases New Monthly Provisional Estimates on Drug Overdose Deaths. National Center for Health Statistics.] 70,630 people died from drug overdoses in 2019.[
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The National Center for Health Statistics reports that 19,250 people died of accidental poisoning in the U.S. in the year 2004 (eight deaths per 100,000 population).[ Referral Page—FASTSTATS—Accidents or Unintentional Injuries Retrieved on September 20, 2014.]
In 2008 testimony before a Senate subcommittee, Leonard J. Paulozzi,[ CDC Expert, Leonard J. Paulozzi, MD, MPH Retrieved on September 20, 2014.] a medical epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that in 2005 more than 22,000 American people died due to overdoses, and the number is growing rapidly. Paulozzi also testified that all available evidence suggests unintentional overdose deaths are related to the increasing use of prescription drugs, especially opioid painkillers.[ CDC Washington Testimony March 5, 2008 Retrieved on September 20, 2014.] However, the vast majority of overdoses are also attributable to alcohol. It is very rare for a victim of an overdose to have consumed just one drug. Most overdoses occur when drugs are ingested in combination with alcohol.[ "The Persistent, Dangerous Myth of Heroin Overdose" .]
Drug overdose was the leading cause of injury death in 2013. Among people 25 to 64 years old, drug overdose caused more deaths than motor vehicle traffic crashes. There were 43,982 drug overdose deaths in the United States in 2013. Of these, 22,767 (51.8%) were related to prescription drugs.[ "Understanding the Epidemic | Drug Overdose | CDC Injury Center" .]
The 22,767 deaths relating to prescription drug overdose in 2013, 16,235 (71.3%) involved opioid painkillers, and 6,973 (30.6%) involved benzodiazepines. Drug misuse and abuse caused about 2.5 million emergency department (ED) visits in 2011. Of these, more than 1.4 million ED visits were related to prescription drugs. Among those ED visits, 501,207 visits were related to anti-anxiety and insomnia medications, and 420,040 visits were related to opioid analgesics.[ "Prescription Opioid Overdose Data | Drug Overdose | CDC Injury Center" .]
New CDC data in 2024 demonstrates U.S. drug overdose deaths have significantly declined, marking the potential for the first year with fewer than 100,000 fatalities since 2020.
File:US timeline. Number of overdose deaths from all drugs.jpg|U.S. yearly overdose deaths from all drugs.[ Overdose Death Rates. And . By National Institute on Drug Abuse.]
File:US timeline. Drugs involved in overdose deaths.jpg|US yearly overdose deaths, and the drugs involved. Among the 70,200 deaths in 2017, the sharpest increase occurred among deaths related to fentanyl and fentanyl analogs (synthetic opioids) with 28,466 deaths.[
File:US timeline. Benzodiazepine deaths.jpg|U.S. yearly overdose deaths involving benzodiazepines.][ Opioid Data Analysis and Resources. Drug Overdose. CDC Injury Center. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Click on "Rising Rates" tab for a graph. See data table below the graph.]
File:Timeline of US overdose deaths involving heroin, by other opioid involvement.jpg|U.S. yearly overdose deaths involving heroin.[ NCHS Data Visualization Gallery—Drug Poisoning Mortality. From National Center for Health Statistics. Open the dashboard dropdown menu and pick "U.S. Trends". From the menus on the right pick all races, all ages, and both sexes. Run your cursor over the graph to see the data.] Rate per 100,000 population.
See also
Further reading
External links
