One question researchers want to answer: Do addiction medications do more than ease cravings and withdrawal symptoms?
One reason:"People say you're just changing one drug for another," said Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, who is leading that first-of-its-kind study."The brain responds differently to these medications than to heroin. It's not the same."
"Can we completely recover? I do not know that," Volkow said. But with the medications,"you're creating stability" in the brain, she said. And that helps recondition it to respond to everyday pleasures again. Not offering the medicines to someone who needs them"is like not offering insulin to someone with diabetes," she said.When you sense something pleasurable — a special song, the touch of a loved one, a food like Volkow's favorite chocolate — the brain releases a natural chemical called dopamine that essentially trains the body to remember,"I liked that, let's do it again.
Another test: Ask if a patient would take an offer of $50 now, or $100 if they could wait a week, checking how much motivation and self-control they can muster."You need to be able to inhibit the urge to get something" to recover, Volkow noted."We take for granted that people think about the future. Not when you're addicted."
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