New skin implant ‘could CURE cocaine addiction – breaking down the drug in 20 minutes’
There's no current cure for cocaine addiction, but scientists now say that they might have found an answer
COCAINE addicts might soon have an alternative to going through long painful stints in rehab if they want to get clean.
A pioneering new treatment involving skin grafts is said to destroy the cocaine, breaking the drug down before it can cause the addictive "high".
Tests in mice have shown the treatment works in just 20 minutes, scientists at the University of Chicago found.
They said it could help prevent thousands of deaths from cocaine overdose in the future.
Scientists took skin cells from the mice, and added in an extra gene.
That gene makes an enzyme that is able to rapidly break down and destroy cocaine in the bloodstream.
“People addicted to cocaine would stop using it, and there would be no cocaine-induced relapses."
He also tested the prototype on human versions of the organoids - this time using the foreskin cells of newborn babies.
Like the mice, they produced the necessary high-killing enzyme continuously for about two months.
While all of the control mice died after being given the highest cocaine doses, some of the mice that were originally treated are still healthy and have active organoids after six months - suggesting that this treatment could be long-lasting in patients.
John Marsden, professor of addiction psychology at London's Institute of Psychiatry said: “I would expect this medication could prove effective when partnered with cognitive behavioural therapy to help people interpret and better cope with distressing cocaine craving.
“It’s very encouraging that research in the US remains undaunted by the stubbornness of cocaine use disorder to respond to treatment, and I remain optimistic we’ll see an evidence-based medication.”
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