CHARLESTON, S.C., Dec. 13 (UPI) -- A South Carolina study finds that an over-the-counter herbal supplement helps to reduce the craving for cocaine.
N-acetylcysteine or NAC is an antioxidant that also acts on the metabolic pathway in the brain used by cocaine.
Peter Kalivas, chair of the Department of Neurosciences at the Medical University of South Carolina, and his colleagues tested NAC on both rats and people.
In the first phase, the researchers addicted rats to cocaine and then treated part of the group with NAC. The group given the supplement showed fewer cravings for cocaine.
The team also studied 15 cocaine users who were not in treatment for their addiction. They found that people given NAC reported fewer cravings and, when given pictures of neutral subjects and of drug paraphernalia, did not tend to linger over the drug pictures as the untreated subjects did.
The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, was presented at the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology's annual conference.
