Teens (and adults) who are struggling with cocaine addiction may have a new option for treatment.
Extracts from the Kudzu, a plant found in Asia, are used as an old-fashioned remedy for alcoholism in some parts of the world. Now new research from the Gilead Sciences found that the Kudzu reduced cravings for cocaine in laboratory animals.
"There is no effective treatment for cocaine addiction. Despite extensive knowledge of the neurobiology of drug addiction," said Lina Yao, who is researching Kudzu for Gilead. The hope is that these drugs may have potential in the treatment for human cocaine addiction in the prevention of relapse.
CV Therapeutics used to own the experimental drug, but it belongs to Gilead now.
The study appears in the journal Nature Medicine.
Posted By: Jane St. Clair