A new study shows that cocaine not only changes the way you feel and behave—it also changes the way the genes in the brain operate. Maia Szalavitz of TIME writes that understanding this process could eventually lead to new treatments for the 1.4 million Americans who are addicted to cocaine, and millions more around the world.
New findings suggest that a kind of protein could help cocaine addicts beat their addiction. The protein, known as cocaine esterase, is a naturally occurring bacterial enzyme that breaks down cocaine. This is thought to make cocaine less addictive, but it doesn’t last long in the body.
Drug dependency is a recurrent but treatable kind of addiction. However, not all people who are drug dependent progress in the same way once they stop taking drugs. A new study shows that, in the case of cocaine, a high score on the so-called “scale of craving,” an antisocial personality type, and previous heroin abuse are the factors most commonly involved in relapse.
New animal studies suggest that cocaine abuse, in addition to pre-existing traits or lifestyle factors, can lead to memory and other cognitive problems.
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Vaccine-like shots to keep cocaine abusers from getting high also helped them fight their addiction in the first study of this approach to treating cocaine addiction. The shots didn’t work perfectly, but the researchers say their limited success is promising enough to suggest the intriguing vaccine approach could be widely used to treat addiction within several years.
Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners Inc. says it will continue developing an anti-addiction drug that has failed in two clinical trials, as the company believes the treatment is safe and effective.
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It may have started innocently enough. Someone handed you a crack pipe and urged you to take a hit. “It’s so cool. You’ve gotta try this!” But the smoked, as opposed to the snorted, version of cocaine comes with a whole lot of its own troubles, the worst of which may be that you become addicted from the first time the crack pipe hits your lips.