A Drug Addiction Cure
Yes, it’s in the works: an actual vaccine that stops cocaine addiction before it starts. According to Hilary Hylton at Time.com, it’s not yet here but around the world, researchers are trying to create vaccines to fight addiction to drugs like cocaine, heroin and crystal meth.
First Up: Cocaine Addiction Vaccine
Dr. Frank Vocci is the director of treatment research and development at the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA). He says that within “one to 10 years, and closer to one year” there may actually be a vaccine against cocaine soon, a vaccine that could help the two million cocaine addicts in the United States.
Under Construction
One such cocaine vaccine under development is called TA-CD, short for “therapy for addiction — cocaine addiction.” Dr. Thomas Kosten is a psychiatry professor and Therese Kosten is a neuroscientist and psychologist, both at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas. It did well in early clinical trials and is moving onto the next phase. According to early findings, those who got the vaccine were two times as likely to cut their cocaine use by at least half.
How Anti Drug Addiction Vaccines Work
Rather than treat the addiction once it is in effect, the vaccine works in such a way that it keeps the drug—in this case, cocaine—from ever reaching the user’s brain. This means that they stop the addiction cycle from beginning rather than dealing with it once it’s in full motion. The point of this is to stop the chemical cause and effect that happens when you experience the “high” that makes you just want to get high again, which makes you want to get high again, which makes you want to get high again, and so on.
Vaccine Not a Preventative Measure
Though it seems like it would be preventative like other vaccines, the cocaine addiction vaccine that is in development would only be given to those who are already struggling with addiction. The idea is to decrease the uptake of cocaine and slow down the high. If the drug doesn’t get you high anymore, then the idea is that you won’t use it or that you’ll use it less and less, thus overcoming your addiction to cocaine.
Theoretically, this can work. If you take all five shots of the vaccine required in three months. And you follow up with booster shots every two months. And you don’t just override the system and take more cocaine than your immune system can handle. Like any other drug addiction treatment, you have to want it to work in order for it to be successful for you.
Cocaine Addiction and Cocaine Rehab
While we wait for new medical treatments like TA-CD to hit the market or at least the medical community and become available to us, we still have viable therapeutic cocaine detox and cocaine addiction treatments in cocaine rehabs like the ones at The Canyon. If you’d like more information about what we have to offer, contact us today.
Tags: Cocaine Addiction, cocaine addiction treatment, cocaine rehab, Drug Addiction
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