although recovery programs are abundantly available, rates of relapse observed among opioid users leaving these programs are very high.
In addition, a number of people in addiction treatment for an opioid use disorder leave prematurely due to the uncontrollable cravings they experience.
Cue reactivity — or the tendency to respond to learned behaviors — is another aspect not addressed by most opioid addiction treatment programs or substances used in medication-assisted treatments, but that could be tackled if lorcaserin works in humans as well as it did animal models.
Cunningham concluded that these newfound properties of the weight-loss drug emphasize “the therapeutic potential for lorcaserin in the treatment of opioid use disorder.”
Author: Livia Areas-Holmblad
Livia Holmblad is an editor at Addiction Now and covers breaking news, features and everything in between. She moved to SoCal after living in NYC for about 10 years, where she worked for VICE and SinoVision as a writer, editor, host, producer, and director. Born and raised in Rio de Janeiro. Contact Livia at liviah@addictionnow.com
