Northerner
Admin (Retired)
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Researchers in Nashville announced Tuesday that a drug currently used to treat type 2 diabetes could be just as effective in treating addiction to drugs, including cocaine. The study was conducted at Vanderbilt, located just 100 miles north of Huntsville.
The findings, published online in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, could have far-reaching implications for patients worldwide who suffer from addiction.
?What we have demonstrated is that a brain mechanism already known to be therapeutic for the treatment of diabetes also appears to be implicated in at least certain types of drug addiction,? said Gregg Stanwood, Ph.D., assistant professor of Pharmacology and an investigator within the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center and Vanderbilt Brain Institute.
?We found that this drug called Exendin-4 (Byetta/Bydureon) that is already used for the medical management of diabetes, reduces the rewarding effects of cocaine in animals," said Stanwood. "We suspect that this is a general mechanism that will translate to additional drugs of abuse, especially other stimulants like amphetamine and methamphetamine.?
http://www.examiner.com/article/could-diabetes-drug-help-treat-those-suffering-from-addiction
The findings, published online in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, could have far-reaching implications for patients worldwide who suffer from addiction.
?What we have demonstrated is that a brain mechanism already known to be therapeutic for the treatment of diabetes also appears to be implicated in at least certain types of drug addiction,? said Gregg Stanwood, Ph.D., assistant professor of Pharmacology and an investigator within the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center and Vanderbilt Brain Institute.
?We found that this drug called Exendin-4 (Byetta/Bydureon) that is already used for the medical management of diabetes, reduces the rewarding effects of cocaine in animals," said Stanwood. "We suspect that this is a general mechanism that will translate to additional drugs of abuse, especially other stimulants like amphetamine and methamphetamine.?
http://www.examiner.com/article/could-diabetes-drug-help-treat-those-suffering-from-addiction