New research suggests estrogen and progesterone could play role in opioid addiction and relapse

Neuroscientists are investigating how and when hormones affect the risk for relapse to prescription opioids. ArtistGNDphotography/E+ Collection via Getty Images

As opioid overdose deaths in the U.S. rose dramatically from 2014 to today, both Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Camden, New Jersey, cemented reputations as hotspots of the crisis.

In Philadelphia, over 1,170 people died of opioid overdoses in 2022, the last year for which complete data is available. More than 300 more died just over the bridge in Camden County.