Scientific Knowledge Will Transform the Way we Treat Addiction
Press Release Oct. 2011
The scientific knowledge we have accumulated will
be used to transform the way we treat addiction
and how we prevent drug abuse in the first place,
or its escalation to addiction.
Genes account for about 50 percent of a person’s
risk of becoming addicted, and environmental factors
influence the effect of these genes—an area
of research called epigenetics. Progress in genetics/
epigenetics research will lead to more refined prevention
and treatment interventions
targeted to individual risk or to modifiable environmental
influences.
Emerging medication targets and treatment approaches
will capitalize on our expanded knowledge of underlying
neurobiology and brain circuitry involved in addiction.
For example, research has revealed new candidate
systems (e.g., cannabinoid) that may be promising
targets for the development of medications to treat
addiction and other disease (e.g., pain). Medications
will also be developed to affect systems common
to multiple addictions, such as stress-induced relapse,
or cognitive remediation. Of critical importance
to the development of future addiction
therapies is the notion of brain plasticity
as a two- edged sword: the same malleability that
can bring about deleterious brain changes also holds
promise for effective and enduring treatments.
Immunotherapy (e.g., “vaccines”), will
be available to sustain abstinence, even prevent
addiction. Studies are underway to develop or improve
vaccines that use antibodies to bind the drug while
it is still in the bloodstream, preventing it from
entering the brain. A vaccine for nicotine addiction
is already in advanced efficacy trials, having garnered
significant improvement in smoking cessation rates
and continuous long-term smoking abstinence.
Pharmacogenomics—or understanding how variations
in an individual’s genome affect his or her
response to a medication—will advance sufficiently
to allow physicians to individualize patient treatment
for maximum efficacy and minimal adverse effects.
The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act
of 2008, along with increased accessibility to insurance
coverage provided by the Affordable Care Act, will
expand access to substance abuse treatment and improve
delivery of integrated healthcare for addiction
and its health consequences. This will require well-trained
substance
abuse treatment providers and seamless integration
with the mainstream healthcare system.
Primary care physicians and other healthcare professionals
will routinely screen their patients for substance
abuse and help prevent its escalation to
addiction. By Identifying substance abusers—already
over represented in the patient population—physicians
can provide better and more comprehensive patient
care that will improve outcomes for many medical
conditions where substance abuse
is already present.
Early and appropriate substance
use intervention will also alleviate the significant
societal costs of drug abuse and addiction,
currently estimated at about $600 billion a year.
Material Posted above is Courtesy
of National Institute of Drug Abuse
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