Anti-addiction medication

Drug addiction continues to plague vast numbers of people across the world, destroying and ending lives, while attempts to develop more effective pharmaceutical addiction treatments continue.
Vigabatrin is an anti-epilepsy medication approved by the Food and Drug Administration that has also been shown to be effective against addiction to cocaine, nicotine, methamphetamine, heroin and alcohol in animal models.

In humans, vigabatrin eliminates cocaine addiction in 28 percent of patients. It works by blocking an enzyme-aminobutyric acid (GABA) aminotransferase, which breaks down GABA. The result is higher levels of this neurotransmitter in the brain and diminished narcotic-activated release of dopamine. Long-term vigabatrin therapy can have serious side effects however, causing eye damage in up to 40 percent of those treated.

In previous work, the researchers designed a compound, CPP-115, that is 186 times more efficient in inactivating GABA aminotransferase than vigabatrin. In this study, they used computational molecular dynamics simulations of CPP-115 in complex with the enzyme to develop a new and improved agent with 10 times greater efficiency.

The drug should also be less likely to cause side effects, as it has fewer off-target activities in in vitro tests. In initial rat experiments, the new compound was far better at blocking dopamine release after a cocaine or nicotine stimulus than CPP-115.
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Grape-derived compounds may promote resilience against depression

Scientists from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai describe an extensive analysis of novel grape-derived compounds, dihydrocaffeic acid (DHCA) and malvidin-3'-O-glucoside (Mal-gluc), which might be developed as therapeutic agents for the treatment of depression. The study results indicate that these natural compounds may attenuate depression by targeting newly discovered underlying mechanisms of the disease.

Conventional pharmacological treatments are estimated to produce temporary remission in less than 50 percent of patients, and they are often associated with severe adverse effects. Thus, there is an urgent need for a wider spectrum of novel therapeutics.

Depression is associated with a multitude of pathological processes, including inflammation of the peripheral immune system, a set of biological structures and processes in the lymph nodes and other tissues that protect against disease and abnormalities involving synapses, the structures that permit neurons to pass an electrical or chemical signal to other neurons.

However, currently available antidepressants are largely restricted to targeting the systems that regulate serotonin, dopamine, and other related neurotransmitters, and these treatments do not specifically address inflammation and synaptic maladaptations that are now known to be associated with MDD.

Previous research has found that grape-derived polyphenols have some efficacy in modulating aspects of depression, yet the mechanisms of action had largely remained unknown until now. The new study, led by Giulio Maria Pasinetti, PhD, Saunders Professor of Neurology, and a team of investigators from the Center for Integrative Molecular Neuroresilience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, found that a bioactive dietary polyphenol preparation-a combination of three grape-derived polyphenol products, including a select Concord grape juice, a select grape seed extract, and trans-resveratrol was effective in promoting resilience against stress-induced depression in mice.

Specifically, researchers found that DHCA and Mal-gluc can promote resilience in mouse models of depression by modulating inflammation and synaptic plasticity, respectively. DHCA reduces interleukin 6 (IL-6), a pro-inflammatory substance secreted by T cells and macrophages to stimulate immune response, by epigenetically modulating the non-coding sequence of the IL-6 gene. Mal-gluc modulates histone acetylation of the Rac1 gene and allows transcription activators to access the DNA for increased transcription in the brain, which influences the expression of genes responsible for synaptic plasticity.

Researchers also demonstrated that DHCA/Mal-gluc treatment was effective in attenuating depression-like phenotypes in a mouse model of increased systemic inflammation induced by transplantation of cells from the bone marrow of stress-susceptible mice. The research shows that combination treatment with the two compounds can promote resilience against stress-mediated depression-like phenotypes by modulating systemic inflammatory responses and brain synaptic plasticity in a mouse model of depression.

The Mount Sinai study provides novel preclinical evidence supporting the targeting of multiple key disease mechanisms through DNA epigenetic modification for the treatment of depression. This study strongly supports the need to test and identify novel compounds that target alternative pathologic mechanisms, such as inflammation and synaptic maladaptation, for individuals who are resistant to currently available treatment.

Using combination treatment of DHCA and Mal-gluc to simultaneously inhibit peripheral inflammation and modulate synaptic plasticity in the brain works synergistically to optimize resilience against chronic stress-induced depression-like phenotypes. The discovery of these new, natural grape-derived polyphenol compounds targeting cellular and molecular pathways associated with inflammation may provide an effective way to treat a subset of people with depression and anxiety, a condition that affects so many people.
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Gocovri drug for treatment of dyskinesia

Gocovri (amantadine) drug has been approved for treatment of dyskinesia in patients with Parkinson's disease receiving levodopa-based therapy, with or without concomitant dopaminergic medications.

Gocovri is a high dose 274 mg amantadine (equivalent to 340 mg amantadine HCl) taken once-daily at bedtime that delivers consistently high levels of amantadine from the morning and throughout the day when dyskinesia occurs.

Parkinson's disease is a chronic neurodegenerative disorder. It results from a loss of dopamine in the brain and is commonly treated by levodopa and dopaminergic therapies that replace lost dopamine.

Dyskinesia is a consequence of levodopa-based Parkinson's disease treatment and is characterized by involuntary and non-rhythmic movements that are purposeless and unpredictable, which impact the activities of daily living.

Common adverse reactions of Gocovri are: hallucinations, dizziness, dry mouth, peripheral edema, constipation, fall and orthostatic hypotension.
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Sugar is as addictive as cocaine

Sugar can cause cravings, binges and withdrawal symptoms similar to a drug addiction. Sugar could be just as addictive as cocaine, cocaine and sugar have similar effect on the brain.

Cutting sugar out may lead to depression and behavioural disorders such as ADHD, refined sugar and opioid drugs trigger a similar response from the brain's reward system, both releasing dopamine and other pleasure-inducing chemicals.

Getting used to this feeling leads to craving for more to get the same response, leading to addiction.
Consuming sugar produces effects similar to that of cocaine, altering mood by inducing reward and pleasure

Experiments on rats showed that sugar was more addictive than opioid drugs.
Withdrawal symptoms can include behavioural problems or depression. Lack of dopamine in the brain during periods between sugar consumption has lead to ADHD-like symptoms.

During off sugar period, a mild state of depression may ensue due to dopamine deficiency, which can be temporarily relieved by consuming more sugar.
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Diabetes drug could treat Parkinson’s disease

Taking Exenatide, a diabetes medication increases motor skills than placebo for Parkinson’s disease treatment. The drug could stop decline in Parkinson’s patients rather than providing solution to the symptoms.

The drug activates hormone receptors in the pancreas to stimulate the release of insulin for diabetes patients. But the same receptors exist in the brain, activating them can boost dopamine function and stop inflammation in Parkinson’s disease.

Damage to cells that produced dopamine leads to Parkinson’s disease, preventing the damage could stop the development of the disease.

Parkinson’s patients that used exanatite drug had improved motor function - measures like tremors, agility and speech while those who took the placebo are not getting better.
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Green tea may prevent brain impairment

Green tea contains polyphenols, which are antioxidants that are good for overall health. The phytochemicals in green tea prevents neurological disorders like Parkinson’s disease by promoting the production of dopamine.

It can improve cognitive function and may be useful in treating patients who have  brain impairment, Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

 Regular drinking of green tea extract increased brain activity in the areas of the brain that are responsible for memory function.

Tannins in green tea leaves prevents brain damage that might occur after brain injuries or strokes. Drinking of green tea may combat obesity, insulin resistance and memory impairment.
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How to break sugar addiction

Insomnia, regular breakouts, craving for sweet and exhausted taste buds may be an indicator that you are suffering from a sugar addiction.

 Sugar addiction can leads to overweight and obesity. Excessive sugar consumption in different forms destroys body systems generally.

Acne is an indication that there is too much sugar in the diet, damage to the skin proteins, collagen and elastin, leading to premature wrinkles and aging.

Change in taste bud; taste buds are addicted to sweet foods and may not want any food that is not sweet.

Diet high in sugar can increase cancer growth; tumors used sugar as energy to mutate and spread across the body.

Bacteria in the mouth feeds on sugars which creates harmful acids causing tooth decay, destroy tooth enamel and form hole in the tooth.

The pancreas releases insulin to transfer glucose to the cell's after consuming sugar, the higher the sugar peak, the more extreme the sugar dip that will follow.

Sugar interrupts the supply of important neurotransmitter precursors through the blood-brain barrier - and particularly ones that help produce serotonin and dopamine, which influence mood.

Excess sugar consumption decrease the amount of good cholesterol in the bloodstream and increase the amount of bad cholesterol in the body, leading to heart disease.

The liver struggles to process excessive amounts of sugar. The unprocessed sugars are converted to fat calls, which are distributed throughout the body. It can leads to obesity.

Too much sugar in the body can cause bacteria to move from the colon to the small intestine, proliferate on the foods digesting in the small intestine and cause bloating, acid reflux, gas and abdominal cramping.

Sugar can be remove from the body by replacing process foods with whole foods and by replacing all processed drinks with water.
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Brain cell therapy can reverse Parkinson's disease

People suffering from Parkinson's disease don't have enough dopamine because some of the brain cells have died leading to debilitating symptoms like difficult in walking and moving.

Scientists are planning to replace the damaged dopamine neurone by injecting new ones into human brain but international team of researchers used different method by using a cocktail of small molecules to reprogramme cells in the brain.

Sample of human astrocytes was mixed with the cocktail in the laboratory, new cells that look like dopamine neurons was formed.

The cocktail was tested on sick mice, it reprogramme their brain cells and decrease symptoms of Parkinson's disease in mice.

An expert in neuroscience said this good result in mice can work in human brain and become therapy for Parkinson's disease.