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IPFS News Link • Drug War

Brain damage During Stroke May Point to Source of Addiction

• arclein

While smoking rates have remained flat for the last decade, smoking is still responsible for nearly one of every five deaths in the U.S. and smoking places individuals at a significantly higher risk for heart disease, cancer, and stroke. The frontline prescription drugs currently used to treat tobacco dependence - which include bupropion and varenicline - primarily target the brain's "reward" pathways by interfering with the release and binding of dopamine in the brain in response to nicotine. While these drugs are generally well-tolerated, they have relatively high rates of relapse. Most have a reported success rate of up to 30 percent after six months, meaning that 70 percent of the people who use these treatments eventually start smoking again. Nicotine replacement therapies, such as patches and lozenges, have a similar success rate. Recent studies have hinted that a specific part of the brain - a central region called the insular


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