NEWS: ABC - 20/08/07 'Drugs impair self-control in addicts: study'

[hoptis]

Drugs impair self-control in addicts: study
Posted 7 hours 26 minutes ago

Melbourne University research has shown that drug addicts find it hard to exercise self-control because part of their brain does not function effectively.

Researchers took brain scans of 30 long-term opiate addicts, and compared them with the brains of 30 non-drug addicts.

The university's Dr Murat Yucel says the drug addicts showed changes in their frontal cortex, the part of the brain needed for self control.

"It's a part that's particularly involved in helping us regulate our thoughts emotions and behaviours," he said.

Dr Yucel says the findings may change the way addiction is treated.

"It helps us understand why it is so difficult for people who have a drug addiction problem to give up, and why they continually relapse back into their maladaptive drug-taking behaviours," he said.

"We've known that drugs effect the brain for a long time, but what we haven't known is whether they cause long-term effects, and long-term harmful effects.

"What our research shows is that indeed there are some long-term effects that make the brain less efficient and more ineffective, from any where from months to potentially years."

One of the project participants, Linda, says the research could help explain why she has been addicted to opiates for more than 10 years.

"One day you're happily using, the next day you wake up thinking, 'I need it'," she said.

ABC News

 

[Doooofus]

^ Couldn't these have been baseline differences in the users? If someone has a lack of self control and tries an addictive drug, chances are they will be more at risk for becoming addicted. Doesn't it make sense that a sample of addicts are going to show lower levels of self control regardless of the drug itself..?

 

[djsim]

^ Couldn't these have been baseline differences in the users? If someone has a lack of self control and tries an addictive drug, chances are they will be more at risk for becoming addicted. Doesn't it make sense that a sample of addicts are going to show lower levels of self control regardless of the drug itself..?

That's the because of this region of the brain's dysfunction perhaps... WHY do some drug users go on to become addicts and others don't? WHY do they they have a lack of self control?
These consequences are due to the faulty mechanisms of a dysfunctional brain... afterall, no one chooses to become an addict, do they?
The difference between an addict and a normal person...?
Now you could say the drugs are what chanmged the brain into lacking self-control, but it still begs the question, why didn't the addicts exercise self-control over their escelating drug use beforehand?

 

[lil angel15]

Brain glitch blamed for addiction
August 20, 2007 09:06am

DRUG users who can't kick the habit can blame a dysfunctional brain for their addiction, according to new research.

A study by the University of Melbourne has found long-term drug users have more difficulty controlling impulses because their frontal cortex is impaired.

The two-year study found opiate users needed to use more of their brains to resist impulses in a test of self control than those who were clean.

The findings shed new light on why drug addicts find it so hard to quit, despite the health consequences.

"Drugs can capture and hijack some parts of the brain," said Dr Murat Yucel, a lead researcher in the study.

"In this study we found the frontal cortex, an area that is essential for exercising control over thoughts and behaviours, was working inefficiently.

"These findings may help explain why it takes addicted individuals enormous effort to exercise control over their drug taking behaviour in the face of adverse consequences and why they are vulnerable to relapse back into uncontrolled, compulsive patterns of use."

The study - published in the journal, Molecular Psychiatry, last month - also found drug users' brain cells in the frontal region were less healthy than normal.

The research shows drug taking is not a matter of choice for long-term users, who have a reduced biological capacity to stop, Dr Yucel said.

Researchers will next examine whether reduced brain function is a consequence of addiction or a contributing factor that makes some people more vulnerable to drug abuse.

Co-researcher Dan Lubman said the study would likely lead to the development of new strategies for the treatment of addiction.

"These findings tell us that we need to provide a combination of pharmaceutical and psychological treatments that will help bolster the efficiency of the frontal cortex and hence the individual's ability to stop their urge to use drugs," he said.

Perth Now

 

[Doooofus]

Researchers will next examine whether reduced brain function is a consequence of addiction or a contributing factor that makes some people more vulnerable to drug abuse.

What do you guys think? Pre-existing condition, or something caused by the drug use itself?? As with most things I think they'll find its an interaction between the two. A number of mental disorders tend to be found in individuals with a biological predisposition and an environment that contributed to the disorder - neither on their own is sufficient cause for the appearance of the disorder.

 

[djsim]

What do you guys think? Pre-existing condition, or something caused by the drug use itself?? As with most things I think they'll find its an interaction between the two. A number of mental disorders tend to be found in individuals with a biological predisposition and an environment that contributed to the disorder - neither on their own is sufficient cause for the appearance of the disorder.

my thoughts exactly