Drug detox with magnets

Cocaine addicts can be cured by using a brain-stimulating magnet technique, according to a new study.

Tests on rats with cocaine addiction showed that they were released from drug addiction after scientists fired lasers that alter neurons in a certain area of ​​the brain.

A similar method of using magnets can be effective for drug addicts, according to the study's authors in the journal Nature. Clinical trials will soon be conducted to test this effect.

Cocaine addiction is the leading cause of pain
heart and stroke in people under 35 years old. (Photo: Daily Mail)

Researchers say that by using light to stimulate the prefrontal cortex, they can eliminate addiction in experimental animals or reverse normal mice into cocaine-addicted organisms.

Like addicts, rats are more likely to make bad decisions and find ways to use cocaine even if they know it can harm themselves. The study found that in these addicted mice, the activity in the prefrontal cortex was extremely low. The same phenomenon was seen in the prefrontal cortex of the addict.

Professor Antonello Bonci from the University of California (USA), the leader of the study, said the experimental results showed the key role of the prefrontal cortex - the area that controls impulses, the decision-making process. and the flexibility of behavior - for cocaine addiction. The researcher also proposed a new treatment that can be tested immediately in addicts.

Bonci said any new detoxification method for humans should not use lasers, but instead uses electromagnetic stimulation on the outside of the scalp such as TMS technology (transcranial magnetic stimulation). In TMS technology, experts will use a large electromagnetic coil that covers the scalp and creates an electrical current that stimulates nerve cells.

According to statistics, cocaine is the leading cause of heart attack and stroke in people under 35 years of age. An estimated 200,000 people in the UK and 1.4 million people in the US are addicted to the drug. New research has opened up the prospect of a new treatment for them.