The UK reportedly has an innovative project aimed at tackling cocaine addiction with advanced virtual reality technology. Researchers at King’s College London have developed a virtual reality environment where users can confront and contain their cravings in a controlled, safe manner. The project belongs to a bigger government initiative worth £12 million to control drug overdose through the application of advanced technologies such as virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and wearable devices.
Cue exposure treatment” is part of the VR program, which shows great promise in reducing craving and relapses among recovering alcoholics. Participants would be placed in realistic scenarios such as social gatherings or solitary environments to practice strategies against drug use. The lead presenter, Professor Paolo Deluca, did focus the presentation on what he considered to be key issues in defining cues and interactions that lead to craving in cocaine users, with strong emphasis on how a paradigm could be useful in breaking associations between such triggers and drug use.
It is one of the eleven government-funded projects to deal with the alarming drug overdose crisis that occurs in UK where nearly 5,000 lives are claimed every year. The interesting thing is that it has selected Scotland as one of the project locations and several schemes will be operated there because drug-related deaths are particularly high in Scotland.
Besides the VR program, another study focuses on building a wearable device, that might identify overdose symptoms by communicating with a breathing monitor. This device is expected to alert emergency services in time for them to increase the chances of receiving life-saving treatments such as naloxone in time.
UK science minister Patrick Vallance noted that the hope was to make available crucial treatments, thereby confirming value for the efforts of these collaborative groups for the attack against addiction.
Recent study published in the journal Neuroscience will break this news: drugs long considered cures for diabetes and overweight now also show promise in cutting overdose cases for those who previously abused chemicals. “These treatments control or inhibit reward-related brain pathways, giving rise to a new direction for the management of addiction,” report the researchers from Loyola University Chicago.
These modern developments pave the way for great changes in addiction treatment and prevention as the UK continues grappling with its crisis on drugs.
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