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Pill to block release of brain chemicals linked to pleasure.

Is this sort of thing even right?, do you think it is a good thing?

  • Yes, I think it can help many people, and i think it should be made widely available.

    Votes: 0 0,0%
  • No, Never, this is wrong.

    Votes: 0 0,0%
  • For Specific Treatments Only. ( heavy drugs, such as heroin, meth, cocaine, etc. )

    Votes: 0 0,0%

  • Nombre total d'électeurs
    0

Malaeus

Glandeuse pinéale
Inscrit
11 Jan 2008
Messages
174
With anti-addiction pill, 'no urge, no craving'

* Story Highlights
* New generation of anti-addiction drugs effective, some experts say
* Drugs seem to block release of brain chemicals linked to pleasure, excitement
* Established rehab programs slow to adopt the use of medication
* Critics: Drug therapy does not address behavioral aspects of addiction

Heres the Link
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/15/addiction.cold.turkey.pill/index.html?eref=rss_topstories


Also,
Pfizer's Chantix Continues Killing Quitters
http://whyquit.com/pr/102208.html
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23743312-662,00.html?from=public_rss
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24277263/


_______________________________________________________________
By Caleb Hellerman
CNN Senior Medical Producer
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CENTRAL FALLS, Rhode Island (CNN) -- A no-frills bar called Goober's, just north of Providence, Rhode Island, is probably the last place you'd expect to find a debate over cutting-edge addiction therapy. But this is where Walter Kent, a retired mechanic, spends his Fridays. He helps in the kitchen and hangs out in the bar, catching up with old friends.
Walter Kent talks to Dr. Sanjay Gupta about how the drug naltrexone has helped keep him sober.

Walter Kent talks to Dr. Sanjay Gupta about how the drug naltrexone has helped keep him sober.
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Most addiction specialists would call this playing with fire, or worse. That's because for more than 30 years, Kent was a hard-core alcoholic. His drinks of choice were Heineken beer and Jacob Ginger brandy, but anything with alcohol would do.

"It's like a little kid wanting a piece of candy. You see it, you want the taste of it." He closes his eyes and sniffs the air, remembering the feeling. "You can be by yourself, and all of a sudden get even a hint of alcohol, just the smell of it, and say, 'Oh, I need a drink.' That sensation is not something you can get rid of."

But today, Kent isn't tempted in the least. He says the credit goes to a prescription medication -- a pill called naltrexone. It's part of a new generation of anti-addiction drugs that may turn the world of rehab on its head.

Dr. Mark Willenbring, who oversees scientific research at the National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse, says alcoholism has reached a point similar to one depression reached 30 years ago -- when the development of Prozac and other antidepressants took mental health care out of the asylum and put it in homes and doctors' offices.

"There will be a 'Prozac moment,' " Willenbring says, "when primary care doctors start handling functional alcoholics."

Among the findings that are causing excitement:
'Addiction: Life on the Edge'
Dr. Sanjay Gupta follows a mother, a writer, a student and a husband. Each is an addict on a journey through recovery and relapse.
Sat & Sun, 8 p.m. ET on CNN
see full schedule »

• A study led by Dr. Bankole Johnson of the University of Virginia found that topiramate (Topamax) -- already used to treat epilepsy and migraines -- reduced the number of days on which alcoholics drank heavily, by 25 percent more than among alcoholics who got just therapy.

• A federally funded study known as COMBINE compared cognitive-behavioral therapy alone with therapy along with naltrexone. Patients receiving both were more likely to stay abstinent and drank less if they did relapse.

These findings highlight what's become increasingly clear: Addiction is a brain disease, not just a failure of willpower. Naltrexone and topiramate have slightly different mechanisms, but both seem to block the release of brain chemicals that are linked to pleasure and excitement. Unlike earlier drugs used to treat alcoholics, neither is addictive or carries significant side effects. It does appear that each might work better in certain subgroups -- topiramate for repeat relapsers, and naltrexone in people with a strong family history of alcoholism. Interactive: Addiction's lure to the brain »

Johnson is a paid consultant to the company that makes Topamax, but his study appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association and he says other medications can also work well. "I think everybody who's an alcoholic should be given medication if they're willing to take it," he says. "It's been shown over and over with research studies that effects of medicine are over and above that of therapy. And if you're not getting the medicine, it's a bit like having one hand tied behind your back."
Don't Miss

* Recovery schools a 'soft landing' for post-rehab teens

Before he found naltrexone, Kent had tried to quit drinking more times than he can remember. "I was the kind of person who only drank if he was alone or with somebody. Other than that, it was never a problem," he jokes now. He did two stints in residential rehab programs and went to countless AA meetings, but nothing worked. Kent is a giant of a man -- he stands a broad-shouldered 6 feet 5 inches tall, and has two sons who played professional basketball in Israel -- but for most of his life, he couldn't find the strength to put down the bottle.

It got worse in 2000, after an injury from falling off a ladder forced him to stop working. Depressed and in pain, with time on his hands, Kent began boozing from 8 o'clock in the morning, every morning. It went on a few months until his wife, a woman he'd known since grammar school, handed him an ad from a newspaper and an ultimatum: "She said, 'You're killing the marriage, and you're killing yourself,' " Kent said. " ' Get help or I'm gone.' " Video Watch Dr. Sanjay Gupta's quiz: Are you an alcoholic? »

The ad was recruiting alcoholics for research at Roger Williams Hospital, part of Brown University. Kent signed up. It was part of the COMBINE study. Kent got 16 weekly visits and also something most addicts never hear about: medication. This time, he stayed sober, even after his doctor took him off naltrexone. That was more than eight years ago. Video Watch Walter Kent talk about his struggle with alcohol »

Despite studies showing effectiveness, established rehab programs have been slow to adopt the use of medication. At Hazelden in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a small proportion of patients receive anti-addiction drugs, but medical director Dr. Kevin Clark says the traditional model -- based on intensive therapy and the 12 steps popularized by Alcoholics Anonymous -- is still best. "It is a disease of the brain, but it's a multifaceted disease. It has a spiritual component, a behavioral component to it," says Clark. "Our experience tells us that having the network of support and recovery is what really makes the difference."

John Schwarzlose, executive director of the Betty Ford Center, echoes that but takes a more stringent approach. No patients at Betty Ford receive anti-addiction drugs as part of treatment, although a handful of long-time addicts may be referred to a prescribing physician once their stay is over. "Where we battle with [the National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse] is when they say we have trials of a new drug, and then proclaim this is a treatment for alcoholism," says Schwarzlose. "They're smart people, but they're missing how complex this disease is."
Health Library

* MayoClinic.com: Addiction

Schwarzlose argues that Willenbring and Johnson are using the wrong measure of success. He says abstinence is the only true measuring stick -- that an alcoholic who is drinking less is just at a way station on the road to relapse. "Naltrexone has reduced drinking, but once you're addicted, there is no such thing as 'OK' drinking. This is one of those cases where there's a real schism between the research and actual practice."

This attitude frustrates Willenbring, who estimates that in the United States only one addict in 10 has even heard about medication options. "In most cases, the treatment is entirely nonmedical. Most people are not even told about the medications that are available for treating alcohol dependence, and I think that's a crime."
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Still, medication is slowly creeping into mainstream addiction therapy. One big advocate is Percy Menzies, a pharmacist and former sales representative for DuPont, which developed naltrexone. His St. Louis, Missouri-based Recovery Centers for America treats patients in an on-site hospital, then refers them to outside physicians for follow-up treatment. Along with therapy, virtually every patient is given Vivitrol, a long-lasting form of naltrexone that's given monthly by injection.

Kent says naltrexone saved his life. When the COMBINE program was over, Kent's doctor told him to call if he felt the old need for a drink coming back. But it never came. "I have yet to go back and say, 'I have an urge for a drink,' " says Kent, lounging in Goober's. "[My friends] will offer, 'You want a drink?' And I say, 'No, I'm fine. I'll have a soda.' I'm fine with that. Because when there's no urge, no craving, it doesn't bother me. I'm living proof this can happen."
 

Forkbender

Holofractale de l'hypervérité
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23 Nov 2005
Messages
11 366
They should add this stuff to the drinking water. :roll:
 

VerusDeus

Sale drogué·e
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6 Avr 2006
Messages
914
Isn't it important in kicking drug habits, that the 'junkie' comes to the realization there are many other sources for pleasure, and that he therefore shouldn't have to be dependant on the drug he is dependant on?
 

Forkbender

Holofractale de l'hypervérité
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23 Nov 2005
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11 366
No! We should prohibit everyone from feeling a thing. :roll:
 

adoma

Glandeuse pinéale
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10 Oct 2007
Messages
146
Forkbender a dit:
No! We should prohibit everyone from feeling a thing. :roll:
YES! hate is an emotion and if we eliminate emotion, then we eliminate hate!
that which is responsible for war 'n' shit...

ALL HAIL LIBRIA!


just kidding...
But no, i think they should use it on junkies/alcholists whose judgement has been clouded by their addictions.
Maybe if they are sober, will they be able to see reasoning in it.
But then again why so pacifistic, why not use ibogaine on the junkies/alcholists :p
 

Forkbender

Holofractale de l'hypervérité
Inscrit
23 Nov 2005
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11 366
Equilibrium! Great movie!

Reasoning and emotions are tightly linked systems, they are not separate and I doubt whether the reasoning will be less clouded if there is no emotion at all.

Ibogaine would be a good option if it were available to those that want to kick their habit. It doesn't work as well on people who don't really want to quit.
 

evered

Neurotransmetteur
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20 Déc 2008
Messages
20
What's the point of this drug? It's just copying ibogaine :)
 

restin

Holofractale de l'hypervérité
Inscrit
18 Avr 2008
Messages
4 978
Equilibrium! Great movie!
yeah, it is.

I am not in the position to decide for a junkie what he should do against his addiction and what not.
 

Brugmansia

Holofractale de l'hypervérité
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2 Nov 2006
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4 372
Learn one how to sense, rather than spreading techniques to bend.
 

Meduzz

Holofractale de l'hypervérité
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12 Avr 2006
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4 228
Change people's brain chemistry because it's bad to change your brain chemistry... :roll:
 

bransondude

Neurotransmetteur
Inscrit
2 Fev 2009
Messages
38
I'm gonna go ahead and swim upstream for a second. Isn't this a very good option for those whose addictions are killing them? The case the article describes represents a small portion of those considered "addicts", but for those people, this would be a lifesaving therapy.

Personally, if I were one day to not be in my right mind, I would expect that my family or closest friends would decide on my behalf to use such a thing to save my life. Then again, I trust my family with my life and not everyone can say that. However, forcing a therapy on someone who is in their right mind is terrible and should never happen. Ask any probationer who was forced to go to counceling, it sucks donkey nuts.

I'm pretty sure the whole "block pleasure" thing isn't fully accurate. I don't know that for sure, but I thought naltrexone in normal doses would only block extreme pleasure like what is induced with drugs. Also, after some time has passed, dosage could be slowly decreased to microdoses (low dose naltrexone therapy increases endogenous opioid production) so that an addict's quality of life could be improved substanially while maintaining the benefits. That last bit is mostly speculation but based on real science being explored right now, it would be great if it turns out to work that well, huh?

On top of all this, naltrexone is very safe. Way the hell safer than ibogaine.
 

bransondude

Neurotransmetteur
Inscrit
2 Fev 2009
Messages
38
Is there going to be some cure for serious addiction that is perfect, has no side effects and works every time? Hell no. Should we save a life even though it's a bit squeemish? Hell yes.

It isn't any more of a mind control than A.A. And Ibogaine causes massive changes in a persons behaviour, is that not also mind control? Addiction is partly in the mind, so how can there be a treatment that doesn't employ mind control?

Addiction is tough to treat and overcome, what possible reason could there be to deny any ammunition to fight it? Naltrexone has few side effects and works so why say no/never? Come on guys, what's up with that?
 

Horrigan

Banni
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26 Mai 2007
Messages
980
Those pills will help many people.
Anyone who think they're bad is a threat to our society.
 

GOD

Holofractale de l'hypervérité
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14 Jan 2006
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14 944
Big Brother . Mind controle .

Hows it going to help junkys ? Hows it going to keep ex-junkys clean ? How is it going to help anyone ?
 

Psychoid

Holofractale de l'hypervérité
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27 Jan 2007
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4 506
A pill that blocks pleasure won't change a junkie. Addiction is in the mind. Once the treatment is over, the person still thinks the same way, and still have the same conditioning. Unless you want to drug them for life? They feel no pleasure for the rest of their life? Oww nice, we're gonna have cute zombies.

And I can see this pill used in many evil ways.

As someone else stated, we have Ibogaine which is very safe and effective. Why do we need such a dangerous pill?

The pill is a threat to our society.

If you can't understand this, then you never dealed with real addiction.
 

restin

Holofractale de l'hypervérité
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18 Avr 2008
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4 978
Once the treatment is over, the person still thinks the same way, and still have the same conditioning.
That's why we need the pill that makes people forget (can't find the thread lol). Yeah.
 

bransondude

Neurotransmetteur
Inscrit
2 Fev 2009
Messages
38
guys, it's naltrexone, not real mind control. For extreme cases, it might have to be a permanent solution in order to help an addict stay alive.

The "block pleasure" statement is just the journalist dressing up the article. Patients don't complain of any pleasure blocking problems.

Zombies? Dangerous? Really? strange, because the most common side effect of naltrexone is nausea and headache, not zombification. If the naltrexone does cause emotion dulling or extreme anxiety/depression, the doctor would probably lower the dose or change the script.

Ibogaine, safe....no it is not. Properly used naltrexone is way safer than ibogaine. Besides that, ibogaine is extremely challenging psychologically which is not something everyone can do.

You guys read more than just the article title, right? There's absolutely nothing here that screams of an Orwelian future. Sorry guys, Big Brother just isn't going to control our brains yet. And it'll never happen with naltrexone.
 

GOD

Holofractale de l'hypervérité
Inscrit
14 Jan 2006
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14 944
Thanks for explaining but do you realy think that a drug that can block adiction is a sensible thing , and dont hide behind that saveing a poor junky shit and saveing lives , we arent from the scientologists or some shit jesus fan club . A person is adicted . If hes a pussy he might get rid of the adiction but as soon as its gone and the tablets stop he has the same problems and the same answers = whats to stop him takeing drugs again ?

What drugs / drug adictions does it work for . Either it stops pleasure or it has a specific effect on some brain receptor/s asociated with drugs / some drugs .

Oh , and no i didnt read your post . There was a post on the same theme a few months ago and i took it that its about the same thing .
 
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