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A prescription treatment used to deal with consideration deficit hyperactivity dysfunction (ADHD) might be repurposed as the primary pharmacotherapy for individuals with methamphetamine dependence, in response to a examine revealed in Habit.
Outcomes from the landmark “LiMA” trial present that the psychostimulant lisdexamfetamine can drastically cut back the necessity to use methamphetamine amongst those that are depending on the illicit drug.
Lead creator and dependancy medication specialist Professor Nadine Ezard, who’s Director of the Nationwide Heart for Medical Analysis on Rising Medicine (NCCRED), stated the outcomes have been promising.
“There is currently no pharmacotherapy approved for treating methamphetamine dependence,” Professor Ezard stated.
“While further research is needed, experienced clinicians could consider off-label prescription of lisdexamfetamine, with close monitoring of risks and benefits in line with current guidelines for psychostimulants, for people with methamphetamine use disorder.”
As a part of the trial, Professor Ezard’s crew at NCCRED—which is predicated on the Nationwide Drug and Alcohol Analysis Heart (NDARC), UNSW Sydney—recruited 164 adults depending on methamphetamine and who had reported utilizing the drug on a minimum of 14 of the earlier 28 days.
Individuals have been randomly assigned to a 15-week routine with lisdexamfetamine (one-week induction, 12-week upkeep on 250mg/day, and two-week discount) or placebo, and tracked for 4 weeks after therapy.
Total, those that obtained lisdexamfetamine had 8.8 fewer days of methamphetamine use on common through the 12-week upkeep section than these within the placebo group.
These given the ADHD treatment additionally had greater self-reported charges of therapy effectiveness (2.9 instances greater), and therapy satisfaction (3.8 instances greater) in comparison with individuals given placebo.
The results have been seen most strongly within the early weeks of the trial.
“While the beneficial effect waned towards the end of the treatment period, exploring the characteristics of ‘early responders’ in our study will be useful to understand who may benefit most from agonist therapies,” Professor Ezard stated.
She added that there have been no surprising security issues with high-dose lisdexamfetamine, with most opposed occasions deemed delicate or average in severity.
Trial individuals have been recruited from six specialist outpatient clinics in Sydney, Newcastle, Melbourne and Adelaide between Might 2018 and December 2021, with a nine-month recruitment suspension in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
An vital limitation of the examine was the excessive attrition price of 39%. Whereas this was according to different outpatient research for methamphetamine use dysfunction, it impacted the statistical power of the findings.
Extra data:
Nadine Ezard et al, Lisdexamfetamine within the therapy of methamphetamine dependence: A randomised, placebo‐managed trial, Habit (2024). DOI: 10.1111/add.16730
Offered by
Nationwide Drug and Alcohol Analysis Centre (NDARC)
Quotation:
ADHD drug reveals promise for treating methamphetamine dependence (2025, January 2)
retrieved 2 January 2025
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