Reward therapy

Reward Therapy. A similar (yet nonspecific) approach is to use a medication that stimulates the brain s reward centers. Reward medications usually do not work in quite the same way as the substance of abuse however, the net effect in the final common pathway (i.e., the reward centers) may be the same. For the most part, these reward centers are activated by either dopamine or endogenous opioid agonists. One common feature of most abused drugs is that they stimulate these reward centers. This lies at the heart of their addictive potential. Some attempts have been made to use medications that activate these reward centers in place of the abused substance. The hypothesis is that the addict will have less intense craving for his/her preferred substance of abuse in the presence of these other agents. This is, of course, a relatively nonspecific approach that could theoretically be used to treat the abuse of many different substances. It has not yet, however, demonstrated any utility in the treatment of substance abuse. 

Interference Therapy. This is conceptually the opposite of the replacement and reward therapies. Whereas replacement medications substitute for the abused drug by stimulating the same brain receptors, interference therapies block these receptors. When the substance abuser uses his/her drug of choice, its effects are blocked by the interference medication. As a result, the drug does not produce the same intensity of pleasurable effects. By reducing the pleasurable effects of drug use, the incentive for repeated use should decrease as well. 

Inducements, incidentally, are part of almost every experimental program, in or out of the Army. Newspaper ads recruiting volunteers for similar civilian experiments usually promise a monetary reward. Sometimes compensation comes as a health benefit - free therapy with a new drug along with free... 

Historically, the treatment of alcohol use disorders with medication has focused on the management of withdrawal from the alcohol. In recent years, medication has also been used in an attempt to prevent relapse in alcohol-dependent patients. The treatment of alcohol withdrawal, known as detoxification, by definition uses replacement medications that, like alcohol, act on the GABA receptor. These medications (i.e., barbiturates and benzodiazepines) are cross-tolerant with alcohol and therefore are useful for detoxification. By contrast, a wide variety of theoretical approaches have been used to reduce the likelihood of relapse. This includes aversion therapy and anticraving therapies using reward substitutes and interference approaches. Finally, medications to treat comorbid psychiatric illness, in particular, depression, have also been used in attempts to reduce the likelihood of relapse. 

Disconnection between high industry profits and R D spending. For years, the industry s explanation for its prices and profits related to having sufficient money to carry out new research, as well as sufficient profits to reward the inherent risks. Recent revelations that many companies spend more on promotion than on R D, combined with the decline in the number of major new therapies, has made people skeptical of this claim. Even those who agree with it indicate to pollsters that they feel Americans are paying more than their fair share for the cost of drug development. 

Slow-Onset, Long-Acting DA Substitution Strategy An Analogy to Methadone and LAAM for Opiate Substitution Therapy and to Slow-Onset Long-Acting Electrical Brain Stimulation Reward... 

Behavioral therapy focuses on replacing unhealthy behaviors with healthier ones. It uses tools such as rewards (positive reinforcement for healthy behavior) and rehearsal (practicing the new behavior) to achieve a drug-free life. 

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