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Researchers in Brazil are testing cocaine vaccines to prevent users from becoming addicted. Experts have warned that the vaccine should be combined with therapy.
Cocaine use is at a record high: UN experts estimate that nearly 22 million people took the drug in 2021. This is more than the population of the US state New York.
In Europe, cocaine is the second most common street drug after cannabis. This substance, which is extracted from coca leaves, is usually snorted in powder form.
It is highly addictive and can cause organ damage. Cocaine pushes the body to its limits, resulting in physical effects similar to running a marathon. Withdrawal can cause intense physical and mental stress.
Brazilian researchers hope people struggling with cocaine addiction will be helped by a vaccine that will prevent users from overdosing on the drug and reduce the risk of addiction.
What effect does cocaine have on the body and brain?
When cocaine is snorted or smoked through a pipe, the substance travels rapidly through the blood to the brain.
There, the drug stimulates the body to release various messenger substances, including dopamine. The dominant feeling is one of intense euphoria.
The body becomes hyperactive and irritable. The heart pumps at full capacity, the arteries narrow. Increase in blood pressure and body temperature. Necessities like hunger and thirst become irrelevant. In the worst case, cocaine use can lead to convulsions or heart failure.
The peak lasts between five and thirty minutes.
“It feels as if all the traffic lights have turned green,” said physician Hanspeter Eckert of the Berlin Drug Therapy Association.
The brain wants more. And the body stores that experience as “vital to survival,” Eckert said.
When you are addicted to the drug, the desire for more cocaine takes over your mind. The inner voices warning you about consequences are silenced.
You may begin to neglect aspects of your life that were once important – your health, friends, and work.
How will the vaccine help?
Brazilian researchers want their vaccine to encourage the body to produce antibodies that will attach to the drug when it is ingested, and make it more difficult for the substance to enter the blood and brain.
If cocaine cannot reach the brain and stimulate it, the user cannot become intoxicated. And the brain responses that trigger cravings also shut down.
Frederico Garcia, a researcher who helped create the vaccine at Brazil’s Federal University of Minas Gerais, said in an interview with DW Brazil that the patient understands the drug differently.
Garcia’s research team has tested the vaccine on rats. He believes that the results of these experiments can be extended to humans. If so, their vaccine would be the world’s first anti-cocaine jab.
Researchers in the US are also developing a cocaine vaccine.
Clinical trials on humans are pending, and it is still uncertain if and when any vaccine will be available.
Can vaccination protect against drug addiction?
Eckert welcomes vaccine research in principle: If addiction doesn’t occur, the mind can relax and the body can free itself from the lasting irritation of addiction, he said.
But Eckert said he also has his doubts. Therapy is hard work and people need at least a year of treatment to recover, reflect and understand their body and mind, discuss their feelings and problems, and find the courage to make difficult decisions, she said. .
This only happens by facing the hard questions – for example, are there friends I should avoid, and how will I tolerate the physical pain of withdrawal? – Eckert said, patients can regain control over their lives.
The vaccine is not for occasional users.
Will cocaine shots increase the risk of overdose?
Eckert warned that people who have been vaccinated may be at higher risk of cocaine overdose. If you take the drug and it doesn’t “kick in” like it did before, you may end up reaching higher doses, which will overload your system and potentially cause cardiac and respiratory arrest.
Marika Ferri of the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction had concerns: “The substance is not an isolated problem in itself.”
The mere fact that a person stops using cocaine will not automatically solve all of their problems. Along with the physical damage caused by addiction, there is a need to address the effects of addiction on a person’s mental health.
“It takes time,” Ferry said, and hoped to see more therapy spots for people struggling with addiction.
Ferri said vaccination would only be suitable for some people who are already undergoing treatment. This will be of no benefit to addicts and users who are unable to receive counseling for their addiction.
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