Gambling addiction? Take a pill

It has worked on alcoholics, and now the drug Naltrexone will be trialled on addictive gamblers, the Australian publication SBS.com reported Monday.

Half a million Australians are at risk of becoming, or already are, problem gamblers, costing around A$ 4.7 billion a year, according government figures.

Now researchers at the University of Melbourne and St Vincent’s Hospital are to embark on a clinical experiment described as the first of its kind: a pill that researchers hope will cure problem gamblers. They hope to prove that the drug can help problem gamblers to make better decisions.

Naltrexone is designed to dull the euphoria of opiates and therefore lessen cravings for those with addictive behaviours, SBS.com reports.

The Australian Drug Foundation describes Naltrexone as a prescribed drug which may be used:

• to help people who have withdrawn (detoxified) from opioids such as heroin, to stay off those drugs.
• to help people with alcohol dependence, not to drink alcohol.
• as an experimental treatment during rapid withdrawal from opioids.

Naltrexone is classed as an opioid antagonist which blocks the opioid receptors in the brain, therefore blocking the effects of heroin and other opioids.

It can assist in keeping people off heroin because they will be aware that they cannot achieve a “high” from using the habit-forming drug.

There have been previous studies into Naltrexone tolerance in problem gamblers, but this study will be the first to measure effectiveness.

Nine problem gamblers will be administered low-dosage Naltrexone tablets and then given a range of MRI, brain and blood pressure scans to observe the effects of the brain under Naltrexone while they carry out decision-making tasks similar to those when gambling.

The study is being led by University of Melbourne problem gambling expert, Darren Christensen.

“This is a world first, we are giving problem gamblers Naltrexone and scanning their brains pre and post treatment and looking at their urges to gamble and their gambling behaviour,” he told SBS.com.

Unlike Naltrexone implants, low-dose Naltrexone tablets have been approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

Addiction medicine expert Professor Jon Currie, says there are hundreds of patients being treated for alcohol dependence and for heroin dependence using Naltrexone taken orally.”

“We have to remember that Naltrexone is an absolutely TGA-approved treatment in its tablet form for alcohol and for heroin dependency, so it’s fully approved by the Australian government for the treatment,” he said.

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