Magnetic stimulation of the brain may help patients with cocaine addiction

http://goo.gl/xzc5Eb

Targeted magnetic pulses to the brain were shown to reduce craving and substance use in cocaine-addicted patients. The results of this pilot study, published in the peer-reviewed journal European Neuropsychopharmacology, suggest that this may become an effective medical treatment for patients with cocaineaddiction, although a larger trial is needed to confirm the initial findings.

Cocaine use is widespread in the Western World. Last year, 2.3 million young Europeans (aged 15 to 34) used cocaine, and the US National Institute on Drug Abuse estimates that 1.4 million Americans suffer from cocaine addiction. There is no effective drug treatment for cocaine addiction, with behavioural therapies being the main element of any treatment regime. Now a group of researchers working in Italy and the USA have shown in a preliminary clinical study that cocaine use can be reduced by treatment with rTMS (repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation).

"rTMS is a non-invasive and very safe therapeutic approach which is used with other mental health and neurological conditions, such as depression and neuropathic pain. Our study suggests that rTMS may also represent a new treatment for patients with cocaine use disorder".

At the end of the first 29 days of the experiment, the experimental group was given the option of continuing the treatment, whereas those in the control group were given the possibility of receiving the same rTMS treatment as the experimental group for 63 days. Results further confirmed the beneficial effects of rTMS in helping patients to maintain abstinence from cocaine.