lilgirllost Admin
Number of posts : 863 Age : 51 Location : live in Louisiana but attend MMT clinic in Tx Job/hobbies : COUPONING & GEOCACHING are my favorite past times but I also love reading and spending time with my husband and kids Humor : I don't have a sense of humor............. Registration date : 2009-05-25
| Subject: Long-term methadone treatment weakens brain function Fri Mar 25, 2011 12:38 pm | |
| Long-term methadone treatment weakens brain function
Washington, Mar 24 (ANI): Researchers from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health have shown that methadone, which has been used to treat heroin addicts for nearly 50 years, affects the brain and impairs the attention of experimental animals.
In general, opioids such as heroin and morphine are known to weaken intellectual functions such as learning, memory and attention.
"It is therefore tempting to assume that methadone has similar effects," says researcher Jannike M. Andersen at the NIPH's Division of Forensic Toxicology and Drug Abuse.
In a new study, Andersen and colleagues treated rats daily with methadone for three weeks and studied the rats' attention. The researchers measured how long the rats examined a new object introduced into their cage. The results show that the treatment clearly reduced the attention of the animals. This was true both when the rats had methadone in the body and, more importantly - a day after the last treatment, when the methadone had been excreted.
"The fact that the attention is impaired even after the drug was no longer present in the body suggests that methadone causes changes in brain cells," says Andersen. (ANI)
original link http://www.newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/211641 | |
|