Researchers at the UCLA School of Medicine say a drug used to relieve depression may also help treat methamphetamine addiction. Currently there are no approved medications for treating meth addicts. KPBS Reporter Kenny Goldberg has the story.
The anti-depressant buproprion targets areas of the brain that are most affected by methamphetamine.
UCLA researchers tested the drug on 20 meth addicts. Neuroscientist Richard De La Garza says the medication was quite effective in reducing some of the effects produced by meth.
De La Garza: "And that included the high produced by methamphetamine. We asked the patients how high do you feel? That was brought down by the buproprion treatment. And we also found that it reduced the craving produced by methamphetamine."
De La Garza concedes that no firm conclusions can be drawn from such a small study. But he says with meth addiction on the rise, any treatment that shows promise should be investigated further.
Kenny Goldberg, KPBS News.
