If some of the loved ones on your Christmas shopping list are seniors, you just might save their lives by giving them a gift of pain-fighting supplements. According to new research from the American Society of Anesthesiologists, fentanyl-related overdoses among Americans over 65 have surged 9,000% in the past eight years. The study--one of the first to use Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data--was surprising to many since it shows the trend in fentanyl overdose deaths mirrors that of younger adults. The similarity also applies to the fact that the practice of mixing fentanyl--often times acquired with a prescription--with stimulants such as cocaine and methamphetamines is not just a youth problem. This mixing, which occurs both on purpose and to unaware users, is the driving force of the skyrocketing overdose rates. The researchers described the opioid epidemic as unfolding in four distinct "waves." Each wave is chronologically tied to a different drug driving increased rates of fatal overdoses: prescription opioids in the 1990s, heroin beginning around 2010, fentanyl taking hold in 2013, and a combination of fentanyl and stimulants emerging in 2015. Study details The study, which was presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY 2025 annual convention in October 2025, was conducted by analyzing 404,964 death certificates listing fentanyl as a cause of death from 1999 to 2023. The researchers utilized data from the CDC Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research system. Of those deaths, 17,040 involved adults 65 and older, while 387,924 were among adults aged 25 to 64. Between 2015 and 2023, fentanyl-related deaths rose from 264 to 4,144 among older adults (a 1,470% increase) and from 8,513 to 64,694 among younger adults (a 660% increase). Within the older population, deaths involving both fentanyl and stimulants grew from 8.7% (23 of 264 fentanyl deaths) in 2015 to 49.9% (2,070 of 4,144) in 2023. This represents an astonishing 9,000% rise. In comparison, among younger adults, fentanyl-stimulant deaths rose from 21.3% (1,812 of 8,513) to 59.3% (38,333 of 64,694) over the same period. This represents a 2,115% increase. The researchers noted that the senior population faces higher overdose risks because elderly people metabolize drugs more slowly, and because they are usually dealing with several chronic illnesses and taking numerous prescriptions. These factors are further exacerbated by the availability of illegal fentanyl, which allows youth and seniors alike to "self-medicate." Lack of non-drug options Not mentioned by the researchers is the fact that the American medical establishment mostly limits pain patients to a single option--pharmaceutical drugs. This system often sets a patient up for addiction risk and a motivation to turn to illicit drugs. By comparison, senior populations in most parts of the world can avail themselves traditional/herbal medical systems that are not only accepted, but actually endorsed, by their governments. The Ayurvedic system in India and the Traditional Chinese Medicine system in China are two such examples. These millennia-long systems run side by side with western medicine, and large portions of the population utilize these treatments without ever While While U.S. health authorities label these practices as "pseudoscientific," the inarguable fact is that tens of millions of people use these systems for pain treatments daily--allowing them to avoid opioids and other dangerous drugs. It is also inarguable that countries utilizing these systems have drug addiction rates far lower than in the U.S. Not only are these major alternative medical systems unavailable in the U.S., but doctors receive little to no training on the limited options that are available--options such as diet changes and supplement use. In the U.S., only 29 percent of medical schools offer med students the already-low recommendation of 25 hours of nutrition education. This is according to a 2015 report in the Journal of Biomedical Education. Meanwhile, according to a 2010 report in Academic Medicine, U.S. medical schools offer only an average of 19.6 hours of nutrition education across four years of medical school. This means most doctors are not even familiar with what constitutes an anti-inflammatory diet or what nutritional supplements can reduce pain. These tools almost always reduce the amount of opioids required, and in some cases can be an actual replacement, but are rarely recommended by physicians. A starting point for fighting pain naturally While listing potential herbal and non-drug options for treating pain would fill dozens of books, a good starting place is to review the 1996 Fisher and Trethart study. This research was pivotal in demonstrating that the combination of proteolytic  enzymes and antioxidants, when given within the first 24 hours following acute injury, had a down-regulating effect on the acute inflammatory response. In other words, non-drug nutrients, without dangerous side effects, can lower inflammation and pain. Due to the definitive conclusions of this early research, Optimal Health Systems developed the first enzyme/antioxidant product in the late 1990s---Optimal Acute. Today Optimal Acute remains the industry standard for inflammation and pain control. Later studies expanded the research into long-term pain patients. Ingredients like glucosamine, chondroitin and methylsulfonylmethane were found to provide similar pain relief for chronic pain sufferers. These nutrients can be found in Optimal Health Systems' Optimal Chronic. Unfortunately, these options are not made available to the average pain patient by their doctor... but you can learn more about them by clicking the graphics below! Sources for this article include: Science Daily, CDC Wonder, American Society of Anesthesiologists.
