ISSUES
: Drugs
Chapter 3: Addiction & rehab
39
Treatment for drug addiction could be
used to tackle sugar addiction, experts
say
“It may represent a novel new treatment strategy to tackle the obesity epidemic.”
By Natasha Hinde
P
eople with sugar addiction could be treated with
the same methods used to treat those with drug
addiction, research has suggested.
Researchers from Queensland University of Technology
conducted a study which found drugs used to treat
nicotine addiction could also be used to treat sugar
addiction – and therefore tackle the obesity epidemic.
There are currently 1.9 billion people worldwide who are
overweight, with 600 million considered obese, according
to the World Health Organization.
Excess sugar consumption has been proven to contribute
directly to weight gain. It also elevates dopamine levels,
which control the brain’s reward and pleasure centres.
Researchers likened the effect sugar has on the brain to
drugs such as tobacco, cocaine and morphine.
“After long-term consumption, this leads to the opposite,
a reduction in dopamine levels,” explained Professor
Selena Bartlett from QUT’s Institute of Health and
Biomedical Innovation.
“This leads to higher consumption of
sugar to get the same level of reward.”
“We have also found that as well as an
increased risk of weight gain, animals
that maintain high sugar consumption
and binge-eating into adulthood may
also face neurological and psychiatric
consequences affecting mood and
motivation.”
According to researchers, drugs like
varenicline, a prescription medication
which treats nicotine addiction, can work
the same way when it comes to sugar
cravings.
PhD researcher Masroor Shariff said the
study also put artificial sweeteners under
the spotlight.
“Interestingly, our study also found that
artificial sweeteners such as saccharin
could produce effects similar to those
we obtained with table sugar, highlighting
the importance of reevaluating our
relationship with sweetened food per se,”
he said.
Professor Bartlett said varenicline
acted as a “neuronal nicotinic receptor
modulator” and similar results were observed with other
such drugs including mecamylamine and cytisine.
“Like other drugs of abuse, withdrawal from chronic
sucrose exposure can result in an imbalance in dopamine
levels and be as difficult as going ‘cold turkey’ from them,”
she said.
“Further studies are required but our results do suggest
that current FDA-approved nAChR drugs may represent
a novel new treatment strategy to tackle the obesity
epidemic.”
The study has been published in the journal
PLOS ONE
.
13 April 2016
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