Addiction: Drug Therapies For Addiction

Question 1

What are drug therapies?

Answer 1

They involve prescription for medications. These are two main types of drug therapies: agonist and antagonist.

Question 2

What are Agonist therapies?

Answer 2

Involve the prescription of medications that bind with and activate receptors in the brain that are involved in. These original addiction. This type of drug therapy reduces withdrawal symptoms associated with the addiction, making it easier for addicts to abstain.
- Varenicline is a medication used to treat nicotine addiction.
- This is a partial agonist for nicotine receptors, meaning it binds with and partially activates nicotine receptors in the brain. This releases some dopamine into the brains reward pathway, thereby reducing withdrawal symptoms.
- It also reduces the pleasure of smoking by competing with nicotine for nicotine receptors. This competition makes it less likely for nicotine to bind fully and activate these receptors, making smoking less enjoyable for those taking varenicline.

Question 3

What are Antagonist Therapies?

Answer 3

• Involve the prescription of medications that bind with but do not activate receptors. Such therapies are used to prevent behaviours from producing their pleasurable effects.
• An example in Naltrexone. This is a prescription medication used to treat addiction to opioid drugs, such as heroine.
• Naltrexone is an opioid antagonist that blocks opioid receptors in the brain without activating them. By occupying these receptors, it prevents opioids, such as heroin, from binding to them. As a result, dopamine is not released into the brain’s reward pathway, which stops opioids from producing their pleasurable effects.
• Naltrexone has also been used to treat gambling addiction. By blocking opioid receptors, naltrexone also reduces the release of dopamine into the reward pathway. This means gamblers may experience less reward from gambling.