| | |  | Last Updated: Tuesday, June 19, 2007 |  | | | New Pill for Gambling Addicts
- Friday, 14 Oct 2005
A new method for treating people who suffer from a gambling problem is currently being tested in the US. Dr. Sandra Lapham from Behavioral Health Research Center of the Southwest in Albuquerque, is suggesting that a treatment that combines taking medication and attending therapy can be effective in curing a gambling addiction. Lapham is currently holding a clinical trial in which gambling addicts are treated using a pill that is responsible of blocking the neuro-chemical pathways in the brain that allow addicts to experience the “rush” when gambling.
Lapham explains, “For some people, if you take away that underlying craving, change that pathway, then you take away the enjoyment of that behavior and can stop it”. So far, the pill has proven to be successful in treating alcoholics, however it has never been tested with purpose of curing a gambling addiction. According to Lapham the principle in treating both alcoholism and a gambling problem is the same, give the fact that they are both forms of addiction.
Lapham argues that gambling is form of addiction, since stems from some sort of a genetic predisposition. People with a gambling problem have many the same symptoms drug and alcohol addicts display. It’s important to note that this is the first attempt to tread a gambling addiction through medication.
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