Category Archives: Addiction Courses

Progesterone And Nicotine Addiction

January 7, 2015

Research Shows Progesterone Influences Nicotine Addiction in Women

Nicotine addictionNicotine is a common substance in certain drugs. In fact we interact with nicotine most of the time without even stopping to think that it is really an addictive substance. Nicotine can be found in tea but again the level of nicotine will be different depending on which drug you are using. However nicotine has always been associated with tobacco and this is because it forms a bigger content of tobacco. Unknown to many, nicotine is the addictive substance in the tobacco and so should be avoided as much as other drug contents that are often considered more dangerous. Today, Nicotine addiction is on the rise and it continues to be the main cause of preventable death in developed countries. Despite of use of tobacco by people of all genders, it has been found that women and teen girls appear to be more vulnerable on certain aspects of nicotine addiction compared with men and boys. While the mechanism of gender differences in nicotine addiction is not yet clear, evidence suggests that while estrogen may underlie enhanced vulnerability in females, progesterone may protect females. Thus, progesterone may have therapeutic use for tobacco addiction, especially in female smokers. Researchers are working to establish the reason for this gender variation in nicotine addiction and the revelation will pose a greater understanding of the role of progesterone in nicotine addiction is important not only from a treatment purposes but also from a prevention perspective. The changes in hormones in the body of women such as those that occur at adolescence and during pregnancy and following birth. The changes in hormones that are also caused by hormonal manipulation like using methods of hormonal birth control may all contribute to changes in vulnerability to nicotine addiction.

In this article we will explore in reference to recent evidences from clinical studies how progesterone affects the health of a woman in relation to nicotine addiction. Depending on the data already availed from past researches we will find out the effects of progesterone during the initiation stage and even during the later stages of nicotine addiction process as a potential relapse prevention treatment.

Several studies have indicated that in spite of the public knowledge that nicotine addiction can be dangerous to one’s health, tobacco use has been on the rise especially on young women and teens. In a 2007 study results on National Survey on Drug Use research done by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration often shortened as SAHMSA found that Females aged 12–17 are also more likely than males initiate smoking. It has also been found out that women take shorter time to develop tobacco dependence syndrome after their initial use of tobacco.

Similar reports of enhanced vulnerability in females versus males have been reported among adult smokers. For example, among adults (18 years and over), although more men than women smoke, women take less time to become dependent after initial use, report shorter and less frequent abstinence periods and smoke for longer periods of time in their lives compared with men with the median cessation age of 33 years for males versus 37 years for females. This finding was reported by a research done by Pierce and Gilpin in 1996 in a study titled: How long will today’s adolescent smoker be addicted to cigarettes?

Of all the studies that have been available on tobacco use it has been found that women are more vulnerable to nicotine addiction as they also appear to respond less favorably to smoking cessation treatments.

Preclinical studies on rats

A preclinical study on rats done by Donny and Clark with other researchers provided information that is Consistent with the above findings. In preclinical studies, adolescent and adult female rats showed faster acquisition of intravenous nicotine self-administration and higher break points on a progressive-ratio schedule compared with adolescent and adult males. Similarly, female mice showed a greater preference for nicotine in a two-bottle choice task compared with male mice indicating greater sensitivity of females to nicotine’s reinforcing effects. These studies point to important gender differences in initiation and maintenance of nicotine use that may contribute to smaller gains in curbing nicotine addiction in women.

Progesterone interacts with GABA receptors

Nicotine addictionSeveral research findings point out that Progesterone and its metabolites interact with multiple neurotransmitter receptors including GABA, glycine, sigma1, kainate, serotonin3, and nicotinic cholinergic receptors. However, most relevant for nicotine addiction are interactions with GABA. Progesterone’s active metabolites, pregnanolone and allopregnanolone, have positive modulatory effects on GABA receptors which enhance GABAergic transmission. GABA is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain and has significant influence on multiple central nervous system (CNS) function. The positive modulatory effects of progesterone metabolites on the GABA receptors have been proposed to weaken drug reward. Remarkably, the effects of progesterone and its metabolites on GABAergic signaling vary with menstrual cycle phase and at hormone transition phases including during adolescence and during pregnancy. For instance, during puberty, allopreganolone’s effects on GABAergic transmission are opposite to those seen before and after puberty with results showing a reduction in GABAergic transmission.

It has also been reported that progesterone also affects signaling at nicotinic receptors. Specifically, both progesterone and allopregnanolone are negative modulators of the α4β2 nicotinic receptors. Progesterone has also been reported to increase mRNA expression of α5 nicotinic receptors.

In conclusion

Progesterone may avail a skeleton for nicotine treatment in women but more research need to be done on this issue so as the potential of nicotine addiction with progesterone can be examined. Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD) of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Center is an expert in integrative medicine for addiction. Call her on (843) 213-1480 for help.

Research Shows Progesterone Influences Nicotine Addiction in Women

 

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Circulating Stem Cells And Opiate Addiction

January 6, 2015

Deficit of Circulating Stem Cells-In Opiate Addiction Cause Major Illnesses in the Body

Circulating Stem cellsA new research has pointed out that deficit of circulating stem cells-in opiate addiction cause major illnesses in the body. This however is not much of a surprise since past researchers were able to discover the fact that slow cell growth and apoptosis were major reasons for the different capacities of addictive drugs. To people who have slow cell growth, the chances addiction is much higher of Couse within a shorter lifespan than those who had optimum cell growth levels.

Deficit of circulating stem cells-in opiate addiction cause major illnesses in the body The stem cell hypothesis of ageing suggests that ageing at the organismal level is reflected by impaired cell health at the cellular level including reduced function, reduced growth, increased senescence, and cell loss by apoptosis, necrosis. The often disorganized and disheveled body habitus of many drug addicts is well known, as is their predisposition to a variety of unusual disorders.

A rising body of knowledge suggests that disorders common in aged populations occur at an increased frequency in addicted populations as a result of stem cell deficiencies. Stem cells dysfunctions in addicts apply to:

  • Osteoporosis,
  • Neuropsychiatric disorders,
  • Depressed sperm counts,
  • Calcific arteriosclerosis,
  • Premature graying of the hair,
  • Severe mental disorders.

These problems have in common a failure in stem cell physiology. The high mortality accompanying chemical addictions is also well recognized.

New Research

Currently, the field of stem cell biology is mushrooming with many investigations centered on a host of prospective applications in regenerative medicine and including particularly bone marrow transplantation, tissue regeneration and immune and gene therapy. Several recent developments make these advances of particular interest to the field of addictive medicine particularly to its toxicology. Stem cells exist at low frequency in the peripheral circulating blood and may be quantitated there. Several methods have been recently described for the quantitation of various lines of stem and progenitor cells in peripheral blood, a tissue which is regularly accessed in routine clinical care. Secondly the endothelial progenitor cell has been said to be of enormous importance to the regeneration of the vasculature and has be noted to be a superior predictor of cardiovascular outcomes including mortality than commonly used classical cardiovascular risk factors. Similarly counts of the circulating osteoblastic progenitor cell have been shown to correlate with bone density studies. Finally the cellular theory of ageing suggests that stem cells and their health should be a special focus of ageing medicine and the deficits associated with ageing, and this has been confirmed by recent reports.

Given the importance of the circulating stem cells in the blood, it is therefore necessary to examine the peripheral blood for circulating stem cell numbers in addicted and control populations so as to find out the relationship between suppressed levels of the circulating stem cells and illnesses that are common in opiate addicts.

In a research that was done recently by substance abuse prevention policy it was found that patients who were addicted to opiates had decline in stem cells circulating in the peripheral blood appears to be three or four times as fast in addicts as in the general population.

In this research the patients were chosen from normal clinical primary care population. Medical patients were representative of those seen typically in primary care clinics. Opiate addicted patients were maintained on buprenorphine/naloxone combination and are gradually reduced. They were not in clinical withdrawal at any time. Blood was obtained with patient consent. Blood was drawn for standard clinical indications in the course of routine patient care. Peripheral venous blood was sampled from patients and processed fresh without storage by flow cytometry. Absolute lymphocyte counts were taken, and CD34+ CD45+ double positive cells were counted as haemopoietic stem cells (HSC’s), and CD34+ KDR+ (VEGFR2+) cells were denoted endothelial progenitor cells (EPC’s). Progenitor cells were standardized against the lymphocyte fraction as these were believed to be of the most appropriate nuclear cytoplasmic ratio.

Based on the data presented the decline in stem cells circulating in the peripheral blood appears to be three or four times as fast in addicts as in the general population. This therefore indicates that opiates addicts are more likely to suffer the symptoms of low circulating stem cells than those who are not addicted to opiates.

This research however was small but if these results are confirmed by other researches that are done on a much larger scope then they would have very significant potential implications for understanding the cumulative toxicology of indefinite maintenance therapies and programs both for opiate dependency and the notion presently widespread in medicinal chemistry, clinical, research funding and other circles that agonist medication is functionally superior to sustain patient compliance in the long term to antagonists. If confirmed the present results are likely to have far reaching implications for clinical practice and hence public policy, particularly as an increasing number of long acting depot preparations of antagonists are currently entering the marketplace.

Circulating Stem CellsThis research as said earlier is a preliminary study and its researchers are still suggesting that further investigations be done for on-going research in this important field as it has significant future implications for drugs policy administrations and long term patient treatment development.

Finally drug addiction is effectively fought through integrative care. If you are battling with addiction and you need help call Dr. Dalal Akoury of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Center on (843) 213-1480 for help.

Deficit of Circulating Stem Cells-In Opiate Addiction Cause Major Illnesses in the Body

 

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Binge Drinking affects Immune System

January 6, 2015

Binge Drinking Disrupts Immune System in Young Adults

Binge DrinkingAlcohol when drank in recommended quantities can help one get varied health benefits. however as one continues taking alcohol he may begin to take more of the drink so as to enjoy its euphoric effects, the more alcohol a person drinks and the frequency at which he takes alcohol pave way for serious health complications. There are people today who have been maimed as a result of binge drinking making them dependent on their families as they can no longer work to supplement their own daily needs. The effects of alcoholism are far more than the economic gravity that often befall the addicts but it has more to do with their health. Binge drinking has quite adverse effects on the health of an alcoholic as it has been found to disrupt the immune system of alcoholics especially the youth.

What is Binge Drinking?

Binge drinking usually refers to drinking lots of alcohol in a short space of time or drinking to get drunk. Most researchers define binge drinking as taking more than 8 units or more in a single session. This however may not be so appropriate as different people have different levels of tolerance to the drink and even the speed at which people drink is different. Some people are bound to be fast drinkers while others are slow drinkers but the essence of binge drinking is to get drunk quickly. To avoid binge drinking it is important to space your drinks and to avoid drinking too much that you get drunk instantly.

New research that was led by a researcher now at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine has found that Binge drinking in young, healthy adults significantly disrupts the immune system.

During this study the participants drank four or five shots of vodka. The study also considered the weight of the participants against the number of shots of vodka they took. Twenty minutes after reaching peak intoxication, their immune systems revved up. But when measured again, at two hours and five hours after peak intoxication, their immune systems had become less active than when sober. Binge drinking making them more vulnerable to disease infections. This study led by Majid Afshar, MD, MSCR, and colleagues was published online ahead of print in Alcohol, an international, peer-reviewed journal.

Apart from the fact that that binge drinking has a negative effect on the immune system of youth involved in it , it has also been found that binge drinking increases the risk of falls, burns, gunshot wounds, car accidents and other traumatic injuries. Researchers have also found out that one-third of trauma patients have alcohol in their systems.

There is more harm to binge drinking than just increased risk of traumatic injuries as it also impairs the body’s ability to recover from such injuries. Previous studies have found that binge drinking delays wound healing, increases blood loss and makes patients more prone to pneumonia and infections from catheters. The study led by Dr. Afshar warns that Binge drinkers are also more likely to die from traumatic injuries.

Binge drinking is known to alter behaviors of drinkers but as Elizabeth Kovacs, PhD, a co-author of the study and director of Loyola’s Alcohol Research Program puts it “But there is less awareness of alcohol’s harmful effects in other areas, such as the immune system,”. This shows that most binge drinkers are not fully aware of its risks.

If what the definition of binge drinking by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism holds some water then there are many binge drinkers who do not even know they are binge drinkers. According to this institute binge drinking is drinking enough to reach or exceed a blood alcohol content of .08, the legal limit for driving.

This study included eight women and seven men with a median age of 27. Each volunteer drank enough shots of vodka, generally four or five to meet the definition of binge drinking. Dr. Afshar and colleagues took blood samples at 20 minutes, two hours and five hours after peak intoxication because these are times when intoxicated patients typically arrive at trauma centers for treatment of alcohol-related injuries.

Binge DrinkingFrom the blood samples it was observed that 20 minutes after peak intoxication, there was increased immune system activity. There were higher levels of three types of white blood cells that are key components of the immune system namely leukocytes, monocytes and natural killer cells. There also were increased levels of proteins called cytokines that signal the immune system to ramp up. At this minute the immune system was higher than before they got drunk. However two hours and five hours after peak intoxication, researchers found the opposite effect- fewer circulating monocytes and natural killer cells and higher levels of different types of cytokines that signal the immune system to become less active signaling a drop in the immune system.

Follow up study

Despite the success of this study in showing the effect of binge drinking on the immune system, Dr. Afshar is still planning to do a follow-up study of burn unit patients. He intends to compare patients who had alcohol in their system when they arrived with patients who were alcohol-free. He will measure immune system markers from each group, and compare their outcomes, including lung injury, organ failure and death among other parameters.

Binge drinking has far worse effects on the health of an alcoholic, it is therefore safe to consider the pace at which a person drinks and avoid this dangerous habit. Dr. Dalal Akoury of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Center has dedicated her life to helping addicts restore their lives by use of integrative medicine. Call her on (843) 213-1480 for help.

Binge Drinking Disrupts Immune System in Young Adults

 

 

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Prefrontal Cortex and Addiction

January 6, 2015

The Prefrontal Cortex Plays Crucial Role in Addiction

Prefrontal cortexThe prefrontal cortex enables us to make rational, sound decisions. It also helps us to override impulsive urges that may trigger reactions that are not in the best of our interests. If acted upon, these impulses urges can cause us to act without thinking. It is the prefrontal cortex that helps you to even maintain sound relationships around you. Each and every day you may be confronted by this impulsive urge but it is the prefrontal cortex that helps us think rationally and help override the impulsive urges. Obviously, this ability to inhibit impulses is very helpful. It enables us to function well in society. It protects us from harm by allowing us to consider the consequences of our actions. However, when the pre-frontal cortex is not functioning correctly, the opposite occurs. Addiction causes changes to the prefrontal cortex. These changes account for two characteristics of addiction: impulsivity and compulsivity.

In the past years, the loss of control over drug intake that occurs in addiction was initially believed to result from disruption of subcortical reward circuits. However, current studies in addictive behaviors have identified a key involvement of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) both through its regulation of limbic reward regions and its involvement in higher-order executive function such as self-control, salience attribution and awareness.in this article we will try to revisit studies that have been done in the past so as to reach an understanding on how the prefrontal cortex is involved in drug addiction. Most studies have suggested that disruption of the PFC in addiction underlies not only compulsive drug taking but also accounts for the damaging behaviors that are associated with addiction and the loss of free will.

In a study where rats were used, it was found that stimulating a specific part of the brain reduces compulsive cocaine seeking. The finding proposes a potential approach to changing addictive behavior. This study and other studies that have been done show that the prefrontal cortex that is involved in decision-making and inhibitory response control is compromised in addiction. Deficits in the prefrontal cortex are involved in drug addiction The Deep-layer pyramidal pre-limbic cortex neurons; is a layer of cells that reach into areas of the brain that have been implicated in drug-seeking behaviors. Activating the Deep-layer pyramidal pre-limbic cortex neurons might reduce the rats’ cocaine seeking.

Medical experts and researchers agree that compulsive drug taking, which brings a myriad of health and social consequences, is one of the most challenging aspects of human drug addiction. In 2011, an estimated 1.4 million Americans age 12 and older were past-month cocaine users. No medications have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treating cocaine addiction. Obviously, cocaine addiction doesn’t affect America alone but the whole world.

Animal model studies

Drs. Billy Chen and Antonello Bonci at NIH’s National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) have been using an animal model of cocaine addiction in a bid to gain insights into the neurobiology of compulsive drug use, trained rats learned to push levers to receive cocaine. When the cocaine doses were later followed by a mild electric shock to the foot, most rats stopped pushing the levers. Some rats, however, exhibited compulsive cocaine seeking by continuing to push the levers in spite of the foot shocks.

In this research, the researchers compared nerve cell firing patterns in the brains of the shock-sensitive and shock-resistant groups of rats. They studied a region of the prefrontal cortex that, in humans, is involved in decision making and inhibitory response control, which are both compromised in addiction. Their analysis focused on deep-layer pyramidal prelimbic cortex neurons because these cells reach into areas of the brain that have been implicated in drug-seeking behaviors. The study appeared online in Nature on April 3, 2013. The scientists found that almost twice as much current was needed to activate these neurons in compulsive cocaine-seeking rats than in the shock-sensitive rats or rats that hadn’t been exposed to cocaine. If these neurons are behind the rats’ compulsive behavior, the team reasoned, and then activating them might reduce the rats’ cocaine seeking behavior.

Prefrontal cortexFor this study the scientists employed a light-based genetic, or optogenetic, technique to activate or inhibit pyramidal neurons in the prelimbic cortex at will. They injected harmless viruses engineered to deliver genes for producing proteins that, once embedded in the neuron’s surface this could induce or inhibit the cells’ activity in response to light of specific wavelengths. Tiny optic fibers were implanted in the rats’ brains to deliver light pulses to the cells. As predicted, activating these brain cells reduced cocaine seeking in the compulsive, shock-resistant rats. Inhibiting the cells in shock-sensitive rats increased cocaine seeking during foot-shock sessions.

“This exciting study offers a new direction of research for the treatment of cocaine and possibly other addictions,” says NIDA Director Dr. Nora D. Volkow. “We already knew, mainly from human brain emerging studies, that deficits in the prefrontal cortex are involved in drug addiction. Now that we have learned how fundamental these deficits are, we feel more confident than ever about the therapeutic promise of targeting that part of the brain.”, he concluded.

“By targeting a specific portion of the prefrontal cortex, our hope is to reduce compulsive cocaine seeking and craving in patients.” Bonci said as he reiterated that his group is now planning clinical trials to test noninvasive methods for stimulating this brain region in people. Dr. Dalal Akoury of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Center has dedicated her life to helping addicts restore their lives by use of integrative medicine. Call her on (843) 213-1480 for help.

The Prefrontal Cortex Plays Crucial Role in Addiction

 

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MicroRNA Quells Cocaine Craving

January 5, 2015

MicroRNA May Suppress Cocaine-Seeking Behavior

microRNA Currently there are very many people who are tripped in the use of drugs of abuse despite their life threatening effects. Drug addiction is a jail that many addicts find hard to evade. It is important to note that addicts do not use the drugs they abuse because they like using them, the honest truth however is that most addicts have tried to stop using their drugs of choice but they can’t just fight against their own craving. The cravings for drugs like cocaine that are known for their euphoric effects are one of the challenges that addicts face.

Typically, a person will use the drug once as an escapade to all the stress that he may be exposed to or as a result of mere curiosity having been misled by their peers that using cocaine is cool as they say it. However after getting the euphoric effects one is bound to go for more of this drug and this in the long run may result to cocaine addiction and even dependence. It has never been easy quitting the use of cocaine and many people even after going to rehab centers will still for the drug when exposed to triggers after they come back from the rehabs. It is this cocaine seeking behavior that is adopted by the addicts that makes it hard for them to quit. If this cocaine seeking behavior can be reduced then a person may win the fight against cocaine addiction easily.

The recent discovery by scientists that a minute snippet of genetic material called microRNA may suppress cocaine-seeking behavior presents hope to the medical fraternity as well as cocaine addicts. As a known fact the use of cocaine will cause both structural and functional alterations to the brains’ reward system. These changes cause a drift in the behavior of the users of cocaine. Through experiments and lab tests it has been found that these alterations results in increased drug-seeking behavior in both humans and rats. The desire to use cocaine become uncontainable hence overindulgence in drug use.

Just like with any other drugs of leisure, long-term use of cocaine will result in reduced response to the effects of cocaine which will force the user to use more of cocaine so as to achieve the sought euphoric feeling. After a long time of use of this drug the response will be lessened again and this will reduce the motivation of a user to continue using the drug. Researchers suspect that these differing influences may be why only about 15% of cocaine users ultimately lose control and compulsively seek the drug.

MicroRNAs are small pieces of RNA that don’t code for proteins but they regulate how much of a protein is made instead. Over the past decade, microRNAs have been linked to various cancers, degenerative disorders and other conditions. It was until recently that the contribution of these tiny molecules to drug use and addiction were brought under scrutiny.

Paul J. Kenny led study

In a research team that was led by Dr. Paul J. Kenny of the Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, Florida, the team decided to explore how brain levels of specific microRNAs change when rats have extended or limited access to cocaine. The study was funded by NIH‘s National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).

In the issue of Nature published on July 8, 2010, the scientists reported that rats given 6 hours of extended access to cocaine each day had markedly increased levels of a molecule called microRNA-212 in a particular brain region. The levels were nearly double those in rats with access to cocaine for an hour or less daily. The brain region, called the dorsal striatum, helps to regulate the development of habit formation.

After this discovery the researchers next tested the effects of elevated microRNA-212. The Researchers used a genetically altered virus to boost microRNA-212 expression in the dorsal striatum. A control group received an “empty” virus. When given extended access to cocaine, both groups predictably escalated their intake. But over time, cocaine intake plummeted in the rats with elevated microRNA-212. Cocaine consumption in this group continued to drop even as their exposure to the drug increased. Their cocaine intake became so low that they seemed to have a growing dislike for the drug.

MicroRNATo contrast the effects of this microRNA-212 in the brain, the researchers blocked the action of microRNA-212 in the brain and this led to sharp increase in cocaine intake and the rats began to self-administer the drug at exaggerated rates, similar to compulsive drug users. These results suggest that microRNA-212 may play an important role in preventing out-of-control drug use.

“The results of this study offer promise for the development of a totally new class of anti-addiction medications,” says Kenny. “Because we are beginning to map out how this specific microRNA works, we may be able to develop new compounds to manipulate the levels of microRNA-212 therapeutically with exquisite specificity, opening the possibility of new treatments for drug addiction.”

the fact that Cocaine consumption in the group of rate with elevated microRNA-212 continued to drop even as their exposure to the drug increased is a clear indication that that this minute component of genetic material may be used to quell the craving for cocaine in cocaine users. Dr. Dalal Akoury of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Center has dedicated her life to helping addicts restore their lives by use of integrative medicine. Call her on (843) 213-1480 for help.

MicroRNA May Suppress Cocaine-Seeking Behavior

 

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