A team of Duke University Medical Center and Australian scientists has found that addictive drugs may have hijacked the same nerve cells and connections in the brain that serve a powerful, ancient instinct: the appetite for salt. Their rodent research shows how certain genes are regulated in a part of the brain that controls the equilibrium of salt, water, energy, reproduction and other rhythms – the hypothalamus. The scientists found that the gene patterns activated by stimulating an instinctive behavior, salt appetite, were the same groups of genes regulated by cocaine or opiate (such as heroin) addiction. “We were surprised...

28 Apr 2011 Alkermes, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALKS) today announced that results from the phase 3 clinical study of VIVITROL® (naltrexone for extended-release injectable suspension) in opioid dependence have been published by The Lancet. The six-month, phase 3 trial met its primary endpoint and showed significantly greater opioid-free weeks among patients treated with VIVITROL, compared to placebo. VIVITROL is the first and only non-addictive, non-narcotic, once-monthly medication approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the prevention of relapse to opioid dependence, following opioid detoxification. VIVITROL should be used...

Some of us need regular amounts of coffee or other chemical enhancers to make us cognitively sharper. A newly published study suggests perhaps a brief bit of meditation would prepare us just as well.   While past research using neuroimaging technology has shown that meditation techniques can promote significant changes in brain areas associated with concentration, it has always been assumed that extensive training was required to achieve this effect. Though many people would like to boost their cognitive abilities, the monk-like discipline required seems like a daunting time commitment and financial cost for this...

Many people do not understand why or how other people become addicted to drugs. It can be wrongfully assumed that drug abusers lack moral principles or willpower and that they could stop using drugs simply by choosing to change their behavior. In reality, drug addiction is a complex disease, and quitting takes more than good intentions. In fact, because drugs change the brain in ways that foster compulsive drug abuse, quitting is difficult, even for those who are ready to do so. Through scientific advances, we know more about how drugs work in the brain than ever, and we also know that drug addiction can be successfully treated to help...

A myth is doing the rounds that there is no evidence that rehabs work – much like scientists could not prove until four years ago that bees could fly. Deirdre Boyd gathers some of the evidence, and outlines the necessity to read the true figures behind detractors’ remarks. “There is a lack of evidence that rehab works” is a myth which the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse has been spreading for some years rather than identifying the evidence. Sadly, we have heard it even from Cabinet and other members of government who know people in recovery, know how they quit their addiction – but feel they cannot support successful...

Long-term buprenorphine-naloxone treatment reduces opioid use by those dependent on prescription painkillers, according to the first randomized, controlled trial using a medication for the treatment of prescription opioid dependence. Nearly one-half (49%) of those receiving 12 weeks of treatment with the opioid buprenorphine-naloxone reduced their use of other opioids.* However, eight weeks after the buprenorphine-naloxone treatment was tapered off and discontinued in accordance with the study protocol, only 9% had reduced their opioid use. Thus 91% of the study participants were not opioid-free at follow-up. According to the authors, “The...

You’ve completed an addiction treatment program for alcohol or drug abuse. That alone is not an easy feat. As you probably heard from your addiction counselors, however, your work isn’t over. Ongoing support is crucial if you want to stay clean. More than likely, you’ve been told to start going to the meetings of a formal support group for alcohol or drug abuse. Addiction Treatment: What Support Groups Provide These self-help groups, also called mutual support groups, offer their members support on a wide variety of issues. Some are designed to help the substance abuser; others exist to provide support for family members, close...

— Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have developed an imaging protocol that allows them to visualize the activity of the brain’s reward circuitry in both normal individuals and those addicted to drugs. The technique could lead to better insight into why people take recreational drugs as well as help determine which treatment strategies might be most effective. Drug addiction is a complex process that involves numerous biological and environmental factors, but a central element is how the drugs affect the activity of dopamine, the chemical that regulates pleasure and reward in the...

Individuals addicted to prescription painkillers are more likely to succeed in treatment with the aid of the medication buprenorphine-naloxone (Suboxone), report McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School researchers in the online edition of the Archives of General Psychiatry.   “Adjunctive Counseling During Brief and Extended Buprenorphine-Naloxone Treatment for Prescription Opioid Dependence,” is the first large-scale study to address treatment of prescription opioid addiction. According to lead author Roger Weiss, MD, Chief of the Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse at McLean Hospital, most studies examining treatments for...

Ron Gavin had a promising career as an Air Force pilot destroyed by drugs and alcohol. He once beat his mother and stole her car to feed his habit. “I couldn’t function anymore,” said Gavin, 48, of St. Petersburg. While serving a seven-year sentence in state prison, he was sent to Reality House, a taxpayer-funded treatment center in Daytona Beach, where he got off drugs, renewed his religious faith and rediscovered his self-esteem. Now Gavin has a stable job at a seafood company, is engaged and proudly telling his life story in the hope he can inspire others. “It’s refreshing to stand behind a podium and not be sentenced,”...