Implant can help addicts stay off heroin
By IANSThursday, November 26, 2009
SYDNEY - A naltrexone implant reduces cravings among heroin addicts and blocks its effects, says a new study.
According to the results of the study, the implant that prevents addicts from the effects of heroin has had a 63 percent success rate of abstinence.
But oral application of the same medicine does not work as well, with 62 percent of addicts receiving a daily tablet returning to regular heroin use.
The implant provides an extended therapeutic period during which heroin addicts can alter their lifestyle, said Gary K. Hulse, professor at the University of Western Australia (UWA).
“It gives you a window of opportunity of about six months to effect some level of change,” said Hulse.
The study included 70 heroin-dependent people aged 18 years and older. They were randomised to receive either the daily tablet plus a placebo implant or daily placebo tablets plus a naltrexone implant inserted in the abdominal skin under local anaesthesia.
During the six month follow-up period, only 17 percent participants in the implant group (6) were classified as returning to regular heroin use, with 63 percent (22) reporting complete abstinence.
The study was published in the Journal Archives of General Psychiatry.
