Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by takyon on Tuesday November 05 2019, @09:40PM   Printer-friendly
from the system-shock dept.

Submitted via IRC for chromas

WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute first in U.S. to use deep brain stimulation to fight opioid addiction

The West Virginia University Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute and WVU Medicine, today (Nov. 5) announced the launch of a first-in-the-U.S. clinical trial using deep brain stimulation for patients suffering from treatment-resistant opioid use disorder.

Funded through a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the clinical trial is led by principal investigator Ali Rezai, M.D., executive chair of the RNI, and a multidisciplinary team of neurosurgical, psychiatric, neuroscience, and other experts.

The team successfully implanted a Medtronic DBS device in the addiction and reward center of the brain. The trial's first participant is a 33-year-old man, who has struggled with substance use disorder, specifically excessive opioid and benzodiazepine use, for more than a decade with multiple overdoses and relapses.

[...] "Our team at the RNI is working hard to find solutions to help those affected by addiction," Dr. Rezai said. "Addiction is a brain disease involving the reward centers in the brain, and we need to explore new technologies, such as the use of DBS, to help those severely impacted by opioid use disorder."

Also at TechCrunch and Engadget.


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 06 2019, @12:17AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 06 2019, @12:17AM (#916619)

    Ringworld and Ringworld Engineers are in my collection. They are well worn.