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3 papers
Researchers are testing several new and old approaches to treat addiction. The most attention is on psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy — that is, giving a drug like psilocybin, MDMA, or ibogaine together with careful therapy — and on new drug compounds tested in animals. Some early clinical trials and many reviews call these approaches “promising,” but most evidence is still limited, mixed, or from small studies. At the same time, for some substances like methamphetamine there are no approved medicines that clearly reduce use. Animal studies and new chemical versions of old drugs show strong early results, but human safety and larger trials are still needed. Researchers also stress that the drug effect and the therapy around it (preparation, setting, and follow-up) both matter for how well treatment works.
This paper reviews what medicines have been tested to treat methamphetamine use disorder in animals and people. The authors say there are still no approved drugs that reliably cut cravings or help people stop using meth. Some medicines helped in animal tests but did not lower meth use in people,…
Researchers made new versions of the psychedelic drug ibogaine, called oxa-iboga compounds, by changing part of the chemical structure. In lab tests on human heart cells these new compounds did not show the heart-rhythm risk that ibogaine can cause. In tests with male rats, a single dose or a short…
Researchers interviewed 50 traditional medicine practitioners in a rural district of southwestern Uganda to record which plants they use to treat problems linked to drinking alcohol. They found 25 different plant species and clear patterns in how healers prepare and give these remedies, for example using leaves and drying plants…
