Scientists discovered that fasting help expremenal rats to overcome addiction ; they mentioned that , hungry rats resist addiction more than other fed rats, in a sign that fasting may help man also to get rid of the effect of drugs
These results, were presented at Neuroscience 2010, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, held in San Diego.
These studies showed that rats exposed to a short period of intense hunger quickly seek out drugs, mimicking the behavior of a relapsed addict.
The new results suggest that a molecule known as NPY, which is released into the body in times of food restriction, also acts as a trigger for drug-seeking. In this study, Concordia University researchers found that rats given a chemical that blocks the NPY brain receptors don't search for heroin. Moreover, the authors observed no side effects from the drugs in the rats, such as weight loss or behavioral changes.
"Our findings suggest a novel approach to the treatment of drug addiction, at least for addicts who also have eating disorders," said Uri Shalev, PhD, the study's lead author.
Research was supported by the Natural Science and Engineering Council of Canada, funds from the Canada Research Chair to the United States, and the Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec.
science and addiction