UK - Residential Clinic

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You can receive independent, expert advice on alcohol rehabilitation and rehab centres by telephoning directly on 0845 370 0203

The most important consideration in choosing a rehab centre is to match the individual to the rehab centre that is most likely to lead to a successful outcome.

We can provide an assessment of all your needs and a recommendation regarding the most effective rehab placement for you, given your particular circumstances. We can provide fast, immediate access to alcohol treatment.

Rehab News: Cocaine addiction linked to voluntary drug use and cellular memory

Rats that voluntarily use cocaine show a persistent cellular memory in the brain's reward centre even after several months of abstinence from the drug, while their involuntary counterparts had no such memory, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco.

The researchers conclude that the pharmacologic effects of cocaine alone are not enough to cause long-lasting cellular memories in the brain's reward circuit. The discovery by neuroscientists at UCSF's Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center appears in the July 31 issue of the journal Neuron.

The study opens a window onto the significance of active choice in using cocaine and extends our understanding that addiction is caused by more than the pharmacological effects of a given drug, according to Antonello Bonci, MD, senior author of the paper, UCSF associate professor of neurology, Howard J. Weinberger Chair in Addiction Research and principal investigator at the Gallo Center.

"We know that environmental cues are significant in many addictions, including tobacco and alcohol, and contribute to relapses," Bonci said. "This study identifies the specific neuronal process involved and helps explain relapse even after rehabilitative therapy or long-term abstinence."

The researchers trained rats to self-administer cocaine, food or sucrose using a lever-pressing procedure. A separate group of rats also received passive researcher-administered cocaine. Neural activity was compared in brain tissue samples from the four groups and with samples from rats that had not experienced any rewards or training.

The study found that rats that learned to self-administer cocaine showed an increase in communication to dopamine neurons, which form the brain's key natural reward and motivational circuit, known as the ventral tegmental area (VTA).

In rats that self-administered cocaine, the increase in neuronal communication called long-term synaptic potentiation (LTP) was similar to those that had self-administered food or sucrose, but with a critical distinction. The increase in LTP due to cocaine persisted for up to three months of abstinence, but the increase in response to natural rewards dissipated after only three weeks. One striking finding, according to the research team, was that rats given passive cocaine infusions did not show LTP in the VTA dopamine neurons.

One subset of rats in the active group also underwent behavioural extinction. In extinction training, depression of the lever was no longer accompanied by cocaine leading to the cessation of drug-seeking behaviour. Despite the absence of the behaviour, LTP remained just as high as in rats that had not received the extinction training, indicating that the cellular memory produced by cocaine-seeking behaviour remained intact, according to Billy T. Chen, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow at the Gallo Center and lead author of the study.

"These potentiated synapses are persistent, regardless of what your new behaviour is, and because the memory is still maintained, it could trigger relapse when the conditions are repeated," Chen said. "This is a clear validation that drug addiction is a life-long disease. Three months for a rat could equal several years in a human. Although drug-taking behaviors may be absent, the 'memory' makes relapse not only possible, but likely."

Reference: Billy T. Chen et al., 'Cocaine but Not Natural Reward Self-Administration nor Passive Cocaine Infusion Produces Persistent LTP in the VTA', Neuron, Vol 59, 288-297, 31 July 2008.

Article published on 29/08/2008 by DryOutNow.com

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Exposure-based addiction therapies could be extremely effective

Exposure-based addiction therapies could be extremely effectiveStrong cravings for alcohol can be sparked by the mere sight, smell and taste of a person's favourite drink. Responses to cues that are ...

Drug users request more support for their families and carers

Drug users in treatment have given a vote of confidence for the services they receive, but would like more help and support for their families.

The National Treatment Agency's (NTA) annual survey of drug treatment clients showed that the majority felt that entering treatment had a positive impact on their lives, including reducing drug use, less involvement in crime, better physical and mental health, and improved housing and employment prospects. But a third of drug treatment ...

clients surveyed felt that family members and partners needed more support a five per cent rise on the previous year.

This finding underlines the Government's commitment in the 2008 Drug Strategy, Drugs: Protecting Families and Communities, to put greater emphasis in future on the needs of families and carers of drug users, and where parental substance misuse exists.

Many parents and families are providing care and support to loved ones who are drug dependent, and this includes grandparents and other kin caring for the children of family members who are drug users.

Both the Drug Strategy and the drug treatment guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) identify the importance of families and carers as a valuable resource in drug treatment, but point out that they are often in need of support themselves.

Paul Hayes, NTA chief executive says: "Treatment of drug dependent individuals is the focus of the NTA, but we also recognise the importance of families as carers and that this is an area of concern for service users. We are therefore looking to encourage higher levels of engagement with families as carers throughout the treatment system."

The 2007 user satisfaction survey confirms many of the findings from previous surveys. For the third year running, service users had higher levels of satisfaction with treatment if they received a comprehensive assessment, started treatment and were allocated a key worker after a short time.

They were also more likely to be satisfied if they had care plans with satisfaction increasing for those whose plans had been reviewed recently.

Nine out of 10 service users (over 90 per cent) reported falls in drug use and crime since starting treatment, and four out of five (around 80 per cent) reported improvements in their general health.

Article published on 18/08/2008

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Alcohol treatment orders included in Criminal Justice Bill

An amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill to include alcohol treatment orders has been approved.

Concerns were raised after the bill originally only included drug treatment and testing orders as part of court sentencing or probation.

However, MP Helen Jones asked the justice secretary Jack Straw to review the matter, This Is Cheshire reports.

The bill now includes a provision for "intoxicating substance" treatment orders.

Mrs Jones told Parliament: "Hopefully, along with education programmes, the amendment will go some way towards tackling the overindulgence in alcohol by young people that leads them on to crime and anti-social behaviour."

Article published on 17/01/2008

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