Stefano, a
46-year-old cocaine addict from Padua, Italy, had all but accepted that he
might die from his habit. He’d just relapsed after a seven-month stay at a
rehab facility, his third failed attempt at getting clean. Stefano couldn’t go
more than two days without the drug. So when he read a magazine article about
an unusual new method to treat drug addicts, he figured he didn’t have much to
lose. The study described how local researchers were using a technique called
transcranial magnetic stimulation to counteract cravings. He would have to sit
in a chair while doctors waved a figure-8-shaped wand over his head to fire
magnetic waves into his prefrontal cortex.
Now the results
of the study, involving 29 cocaine addicts seeking treatment at a Padua clinic,
are out. They suggest that the magnetic stimulation treatment significantly
reduced both cocaine use and cravings. Stefano says his desire for cocaine
diminished dramatically after several sessions under the magnet. The findings are
generating optimism among addiction researchers, because there are no effective
drug treatments available for cocaine addicts. There is also a theoretical
framework to explain why stimulating the brain with magnets might work, since
experiments earlier this year produced similar effects in cocaine-addicted
rats.
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