Naltrexone, a drug being used to treat alcohol addiction can also treat addiction to methamphetamine, an extremely addictive stimulant.
"The results were about as good as you could hope for," said lead author of the study Lara Ray, associate professor of psychology at University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA). The study evaluated the efficacy of Naltrexone for treating methamphetamine addiction.
Restoring Molecule in the Immune System may Treat Alcoholism-Related Skin Infections
Chronic alcoholism may lead to skin infections; researchers reveal that treating it with a molecule called Interleukin-17 could address the problem.
Advertisement
Researchers analyzed 22 men and eight women who use methamphetamine an average of three to four days a week. During a four-day hospital stay, each person was given either Naltrexone - 25 milligrams the first two days, 50 milligrams on days three and four - or a placebo daily. The scientists found that Naltrexone significantly reduced the participants' craving for methamphetamine, and that it made them less aroused by methamphetamine:
Ray said the results indicated that Naltrexone reduced the rewarding effects of the drug - those taking Naltrexone did not find methamphetamine to be as pleasurable and were much less likely to want more of it.
![Researchers Create World]( "Researchers Create World")
A team of researchers from a university in Chile have claimed to have developed the world's first vaccine for alcoholism.
Naltrexone was well tolerated and had very minimal side effects. The researchers found that men and women both were helped by taking Naltrexone, although the positive effect on men was slightly smaller.
Methamphetamine use disorder is a serious psychiatric condition that can cause psychosis and brain damage, and for which no US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved medication exists.
The study was published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology.
Source: Medindia
Researchers Create World's First Vaccine for Alcoholism
A team of researchers from a university in Chile have claimed to have developed the world's first vaccine for alcoholism.
Advertisement
Naltrexone was well tolerated and had very minimal side effects. The researchers found that men and women both were helped by taking Naltrexone, although the positive effect on men was slightly smaller.
Methamphetamine use disorder is a serious psychiatric condition that can cause psychosis and brain damage, and for which no US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved medication exists.
The study was published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology.
Source: Medindia
Methamphetamine Users Face Higher Risk for Getting Parkinson's Disease
Methamphetamine users are three times more at risk for getting Parkinson's disease than non-illicit drug users, in addition to incurring serious dental problems, memory loss and other physical and mental issues.
Advertisement
 Scientists Reveal Promising Formulations for Methamphetamine Addiction VaccineThe development of three promising formulations that could be used in a vaccine to treat methamphetamine addiction is being reported by scientists. | Advertisement
|
Advertisement
Recommended Reading
Latest Drug News
Addressing the unmet needs of Parkinson's Disease by providing disease-modifying therapies could bring about a major shift in the way that patients are treated.
Microrobots could swirl through a person's blood stream, search for targeted areas to treat for various ailments.
Supplementation with multivitamins is an inexpensive way for older adults to slow down memory loss.
Some people with an aggressive blood cancer called acute myeloid leukemia (AML) may soon have a new drug option called Ivosidenib that blocks the activity of IDH1 gene.
In case of cardiac failure where the ejection fraction is greater than 40%, sacubitril/valsartan can prove to be quite beneficial