Ritalin May Cure Cocaine Addiction
Kind of a "fighting fire with fire" thing going on
Cocaine is a powerfully addictive stimulant drug, and new research suggests another stimulant might just be the trick to helping people break the addictive cycle.
Researchers have shown a single dose of methylphenidate, a stimulant drug prescribed to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), may normalize the nerve pathways that go haywire in cocaine addicts' brains.
"These findings may also be generalizable to other types of addiction," study lead investigator Dr. Rita Goldstein, a professor in psychiatry and neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, told CBSNews.com.