UK - Residential Clinic

Looking for a rehab clinic/treatment centre in the UK area?

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: Potential new drug for cocaine addiction and overdose, Journal of the American Chemical Society

Chemists are reporting development of what they term the most powerful substance ever discovered for eliminating cocaine from the body, an advance that could lead to the world's first effective medicine for fighting overdoses and addictions of the illicit drug. Their findings are scheduled for the Sept. 24 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, a weekly publication.

In the new study, Chang-Guo Zhan and colleagues point out no effective anti-cocaine medication currently exists for cocaine abuse. One of the most promising approaches focuses on substances that mimic butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), a natural blood protein that helps break down and inactivate the drug, researchers say. However, natural BChE is too weak and ineffective for medical use, the researchers note.

The researchers describe, design and produce the most potent, stable BChE structure ever produced. In lab studies, that form of BChE broke down, or metabolized, cocaine 2,000 times faster than the body's natural version of BChE, the scientists say, noting that reducing levels of the drug in the blood is a key to fighting overdose in humans. The substance also prevented convulsions and death when injected into mice that were given overdoses of cocaine, they note

Reference

Chang-Guo Zhan et al. Modeling the Catalysis of Anti-Cocaine Catalytic Antibody: Competing Reaction Pathways and Free Energy Barriers', Am. Chem. Soc., 130 (15), 51405149, 2008

Article published on 24/09/2008 by DryOutNow.com

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News

MP backs campaign for better alcohol treatment services

Crewe and Nantwich MP Gwyneth Dunwoody has called for improvements and extra funding for alcohol treatment services in Cheshire.Ms Dunwoody has met with a minister from the Department of Health to ...

Drug has potential to prevent alcoholics from relapsing

An experimental drug that blocks the euphoric feelings associated with drinking may prevent alcoholics from relapsing. The finding, the result of a mouse study at Oregon Health & Science University, could lead to human clinical trials within the next year.

"We showed we could block behaviour in mice that resembles this increased euphoria even after the animals had been given a lot of alcohol," said Tamara Phillips, Ph.D., professor and vice chair of the behavioural neuroscience ...

department at OHSU and a research scientist at the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center. "That's what you want in a treatment, because we don't get to people until after they become addicted to alcohol."

Earlier research has shown that some people's brains become sensitized as a result of chronic exposure to alcohol. This change in the brain does not subside after people quit drinking. So when they begin consuming alcohol again, "they get a bigger jolt," Phillips said.

Alcohol consumption causes the body to release a substance known as "corticotrophin-releasing factor" or CRF. It activates receptors in the brain. Phillips and her team determined that a brain receptor called CRF1 appears to be involved in this heightened pleasure sensation. They compared the responses of normal mice and mice bred without the CRF1 receptor to chronic doses of alcohol. Mice without the CRF1 receptor did not experience the euphoric jolt the normal mice demonstrated.

The research team also took normal mice with the CRF1 receptor and exposed them to chronic doses of alcohol. Before testing for the euphoric response, the researchers gave the mice an experimental drug called CP 154,526 developed by Pfizer which prevents CRF from reaching the brain receptor. This group of mice also did not experience the heightened reaction.

Phillips' study recently was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences. The results may be particularly applicable to stress-induced relapse. That's because the CRF1 receptor also triggers the body's response to stress.

This could have implications for PTSD patients. "I think if you block this receptor, you might be able to decrease drinking in response to PTSD," Phillips said.

The next step is testing CP 154,526 to see if it is safe for use in humans. If it clears that hurdle, researchers will start human trials to determine if the drug can prevent alcoholic relapse.

Reference: Raul Pastor et al., 'Corticotropin-releasing factor-1 receptor involvement in behavioral neuroadaptation to ethanol: A urocortin1-independent mechanism', PNAS, July 1, 2008 vol. 105 no. 26 9070-9075

Article published on 15/08/2008

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Criticism over failure to prioritise alcohol treatment

NHS Lothian has been criticised for not providing enough support for alcohol treatment centres.

Former Wester Hailes GP and Lothians SNP MSP Dr Ian McKee told the Edinburgh Evening News that alcohol addiction had become a "silent epidemic".

Dr McKee was complaining after NHS Lothian was given the chance to select three or more specialist areas to receive more cash from the Scottish government but decided not to include alcohol treatment.

He told the paper: "Often GPs can prescribe drugs, but don't have time to spend having a proper talk. They will refer you to an alcohol treatment nurse, of which there are probably about four in Edinburgh. Then you get an appointment in three months or whenever, but if you are under the influence when you go, they won't see you.

"What is needed is a re-focusing of our efforts so that plans are laid to respond immediately a person asks for help."

Responding, NHS Lothian associate medical director Mike Winter said: "Alcohol-related services remain a priority for us and we are currently carrying out a review of our alcohol related services to determine where improvements can be made and to identify any gaps in the services we provide."

Article published on 03/01/2008

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