Thesun.co.uk - A TRIPPY drug taken by hippies could help cure alcoholics, scientists believe.
Ibogaine, found in a West African shrub, became popular in the Sixties because it caused vivid hallucinations.
But now researchers have found that the drug also boosts parts of the brain that fight addictions, and hope it can be used to treat drinkers.
Experts at the University of California made the discovery by turning mice into alcoholics, making them give up drinking for two weeks ? then giving some of them ibogaine.
The rodents who took the drug no longer craved booze, while the rest continued to drink alcohol when offered it.
Ibogaine even stopped the mice “falling off the wagon”, according to the report in this month’s Journal of Neuroscience.
“The discovery that ibogaine reduced binge drinking after a period of abstinence was an exciting finding for us,” said Dr Patricia Janak, a researcher at the university’s Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Centre.
“This is the type of behaviour in alcoholics for which very few effective drugs exist.”
The scientists now hope they can control ibogaine’s mind-bending side-effects and make it work on humans.
Alcohol kills 7% of British men aged 15 to 44, and the NHS spends £6billion a year on problems caused by booze.
But Dr Bruce Ritson, vice president of the Medical Council on Alcohol, warned: “It’s obviously a long step from mice to men.”
But now researchers have found that the drug also boosts parts of the brain that fight addictions, and hope it can be used to treat drinkers.
Experts at the University of California made the discovery by turning mice into alcoholics, making them give up drinking for two weeks ? then giving some of them ibogaine.
The rodents who took the drug no longer craved booze, while the rest continued to drink alcohol when offered it.
Ibogaine even stopped the mice “falling off the wagon”, according to the report in this month’s Journal of Neuroscience.
“The discovery that ibogaine reduced binge drinking after a period of abstinence was an exciting finding for us,” said Dr Patricia Janak, a researcher at the university’s Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Centre.
“This is the type of behaviour in alcoholics for which very few effective drugs exist.”
The scientists now hope they can control ibogaine’s mind-bending side-effects and make it work on humans.
Alcohol kills 7% of British men aged 15 to 44, and the NHS spends £6billion a year on problems caused by booze.
But Dr Bruce Ritson, vice president of the Medical Council on Alcohol, warned: “It’s obviously a long step from mice to men.”
No comments:
Post a Comment