Therapy Analysis - Drug addiction
Road to recovery - drugs for drugs
Treatment of drug addiction is usually multifactorial, with a combination of counselling, psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy often employed, depending on the substance involved. Pharmacotherapy for drug addiction, particularly as the neurochemical basis of addiction and reward becomes further elucidated, is becoming more and more common, and below we will look at some of the various therapies available and in development for some common drug addictions. The traditional approach is to give a compound that mimics a drug's action but does not provide the same intense 'high', thus satisfying cravings and avoiding withdrawal whilst drug use can be tapered off. More novel strategies are also under investigation such as compounds and vaccines that block the activity of a drug completely. As would be expected, the pharmaceutical industry has focused most of its efforts where the biggest potential rewards are to be made.
Indeed, our data shows that of all the drugs in active development for a variety of drug addictions, it is clear that smoking is the main focus of much of this research, followed by drugs to treat alcohol addiction (Chart 1).
