To overcome drug addiction, the recommended method is to rehab and behavior modification. These efforts are time consuming and sometimes addicts are back on old habits. Now there is a new drug that was created to counter the addiction.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the U.S. are now testing the drug. Named as 'ibudilast', this drug appears to be the first drug aimed overcome methamphetamine addiction. This drug also may be the first time used to treat opiate dependence.
In these experiments, researchers from UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) gives ibudilast to 11 methamphetamine addicts who have not received treatment. Testing is the first trial of the third stage of human trials before the FDA could decide to be approved or not.
The first experiment is intended to test the safety of the drug when taken in conjunction with methamphetamine. The results of the first experiment showed this drug successfully passed safety testing and reduce dependency.
"The results are very preliminary showing ibudilast could dampen the desire to use methamphetamine and improve cognitive function," said the researcher, Dr. Aimee Swanson, research director of the UCLA Center for Behavioral and Addiction Medicine, as reported by the Huffington Post, Thursday (04/04/2013).
Ibudilast prevent the activation of certain cells in the central nervous system called glial cells. These cells are known to be associated with drug dependence. If you can block the activation of these cells caused by methamphetamine, the response of the nerve signal transmission and reception will be up to the brain correctly.
This drug actually can not really new dilatakan. Ibudilast developed in Japan and has been marketed there and in Korea since 1989 to treat asthma and stroke complications. A company in the U.S. called MediciNova also use ibudilast in 2004 for the treatment of multiple sclerosis.
"When we see people come to participate in the experiment, it really is their last option. Many of them could no longer keep his job, ended a relationship with the family, a car lost, destroyed businesses, homes lost, the children went , "Swanson said.
Over the last 20 years, researchers have sought to develop drugs to treat methamphetamine addiction. There are an estimated 439 000 people addicted to illicit drugs in the U.S. through 2011. State losses due to addiction is estimated at U.S. $ 23.4 billion or around Rp 228 trillion in 2005.
The only option that is currently available for methamphetamine addiction is through counseling at the center. This treatment is not always effective for everyone. While treatments for more serious conditions or life threatening medical needs unmet treatment.