Addiction treatment centring on memories

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by Change | 27 Apr 2009

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Experts have been investigating the link between drug-associated memories in addicts and the likelihood of them falling back into addiction, in an effort to create new addiction treatments.

Research published in Biological Psychiatry has studied the association between environments and the risk of a patient falling back into addiction in an effort to cut the cycle between entering a rehab clinic and falling back into old habits after leaving treatment.

According to the study, which focused on the habits of rats injected with cocaine, there is a greater risk of falling back into addiction if the patient is returned to an environment where there are memories of the drug abuse.

In the study, the rats favoured returning to the place where they had been injected with cocaine, rather than another area where they had been injected with a placebo.

The researchers suggested the findings could be important because they can provide insights into ways in which drug addicts should be supported following a period in a rehab centre.

They also revealed that treating the rats with an experimental drug called CDPPB decreased the rodents' preference for the cocaine-associated environment, suggesting the treatment could be used to help cut the cycle of addiction among people leaving rehab in future.

rehab clinics are increasingly aware of the importance of taking patients away from their environment and providing them with relaxed surroundings that give them the opportunity to break out of their normal routines.

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