[PHNUTR-L] Supplement May Curb Gambling Addiction

[hecowan]

Supplement May Curb Gambling Addiction
09.17.07
http://www.therapytimes.com/content=1102J84C489E9490408040441

Article available online at: http://www.therapytimes.com/092507Nutrition


Researchers at the University of Minnesota, 
Minneapolis, have discovered that a common amino 
acid, available as a health food supplement, may 
help curb pathological gamblersí addiction.

In a recent eight-week trial, 27 people were 
given increasing doses of the amino acid, 
N-acetyl cysteine, which has an impact on the 
chemical glutamate ñ often associated with reward 
in the brain. At the end of the trial, 60 percent 
of the participants reported fewer urges to 
gamble. The research was recently published in an 
issue of Biological Psychiatry.

ìIt looks very promising,î says Jon Grant, JD, 
MD, a University of Minnesota associate professor 
of psychiatry and principal investigator of the 
study. ìWe were able to reduce peopleís urges to 
gamble.î

Those who responded well in the first round of 
the study were asked to continue to participate 
in a double-blind study ñ a testing method where 
neither the researcher nor subjects know who is 
in the control group until the study is finished.

Of the 16 who responded to the amino acid the 
first time around, 13 agreed to continue in the 
double-blind study (three didnít want to risk 
quitting the drug) for an additional six weeks. 
About 83 percent who received the supplement, 
continued to report fewer urges to gamble. Nearly 
72 percent of those who took the placebo went 
back to gambling.

Similar studies using N-acetyl cysteine have 
shown its ability to curb drug addictions in 
animals, and a current University of Minnesota 
study conducted by Grant is investigating whether 
the drug could help methamphetamine users quit.

ìThis research could be encouraging for a lot of addictions,î Grant says.

This pilot study is the first to examine the 
efficacy of a glutamate-modulating agent in the 
treatment of pathological gamblers, making the 
findings fairly significant, Grant says.

Source: University of Minnesota
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