Active clinical trials for "Behavior, Addictive"

This study evaluates the use of N-acetylcysteine in the treatment of alcohol and cocaine use disorders. Alcohol users will be split in two groups, one will receive the active N-acetylcysteine and the other placebo. The same division will occur with cocaine users. The effects of N-acetylcysteine in adherence, abstinence, psychiatric symptoms and stress biomarkers will be evaluated.

The neurobiological underpinnings of obesity point to brain asymmetry in cortical and deeper brain regions. Furthermore, chemical, structural and functional imbalance in cortical and sub-cortical brain regions alters reward processing, attentional control and self-regulation in food-addicted obese individuals. In this study the investigators use TMS with a special multichannel H-coil developed by their lab to safely stimulate cortical and deeper brain regions in obese humans. The investigators aim to produce interhemispheric neuroplasticity (INP) using a paired associative stimulation (PAS) protocol over the DLPFC, to restore neurobiological functioning, alleviate food addiction symptoms, and promote weight loss.

Nucleus accumbens plays important roles in the process of opiate addiction and initial of relapse after detoxification, deep brain stimulation of nucleus accumbens will inhibit its activity and thus to effectively prevent the relapse of the opiate dependence.

The main objective of this study is to assess the efficacy of bilateral deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the Nucleus accumbens (NAc) as a novel treatment in severe opioid addiction. The included patients have been treated so far with a substitute in form of methadone. Our hypothesis is that bilateral DBS of the NAc will significantly reduce the craving for heroin and thus enable the patients to decrease their Levomethadone-dosage substantially.

The main objective of this study is to assess the efficacy of bilateral deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and the ventral anterior internal capsule (VC) as a novel treatment in severe alcohol addiction. The included patients have been treated so far with drugs that inhibits alcohol, or psychological behavior training. Our hypothesis is that bilateral NAc-VC DBS will significantly reduce the craving for alcohol and thus enable the patients to decrease their alcohol intake substantially.

Craving arises in response to an affective tone that is associated with perceptual representations of a sensory object, rather than directly in response to the object. The investigators presume that qi gong functions to decouple pleasant and unpleasant experience from habitual reactions by removing the affective bias that fuels such emotional reactivity. Qi gong training may specifically target the associated learning process with an emphasis on the critical link between affect and craving in an addictive loop.

This experiment is based on a unique technique of deep Transcranial magnetic stimulation (dTMS) of the brain's cortex, aiming to produce weight loss in food-addicted severely obese adults.

Buprenorphine is an important alternative to methadone in the maintenance treatment of heroin addiction. Transfer from methadone to buprenorphine requires a reduction of daily methadone dosage below 30 mg to avoid withdrawal after the first buprenorphine intake. The study hypothesis states that the transfer from a daily methadone dosage between 60 mg and 100 mg to buprenorphine can be carried out without withdrawal using buprenorphine patches (35 micro grams per hour) within 12 to 48 hours after last methadone intake.

Individuals indicating risky substance use are randomly assigned either to a three-month online intervention on the Workit Health platform or a waitlist/treatment as usual. Those randomized to treatment will report reduced consumption of alcohol and other drugs and higher quality of life at study conclusion.

Hypothesis: Patients who are addicted to opioids or alcohol will have reduced substance use, health care utilization if they have immediate and convenient access to pharmacotherapy and addiction counselling. Summary: This randomized trial will compare two different interventions for 124 alcohol and opioid-addicted patients admitted to either Women's Own Detox (WOD) at the University Health Network or the Withdrawal Management Service (WMS) at Saint Michael's Hospital (SMH. The Delayed Intervention group will receive a card with contact information for the St. Michael's Hospital and Women's College Hospital addiction medicine services. The Rapid Intervention group will be seen by an addiction physician from one of these services, within a day or two of their admission to the WOD or the SMH WMS. The addiction physician will prescribe buprenorphine or anti-alcohol medications, and the physician, nurse and/or therapist will provide ongoing counseling, follow-up and shared care with the family physician. Outcomes (measured at 6 and 12 months) include treatment retention, health care utilization and cost, medications prescribed, and alcohol and opioid use.