Opiate addiction treatment has become increasingly vital in the recent years as opiate addiction turned into a real social disaster. Many young people become immediately addicted after having tried any drug (for example, heroin) just a few times. Meanwhile, in most cases they assert that they do not need addiction treatment as they may cope with the problem independently.
The same is asserted by smokers or people with alcohol addiction. In fact, an addicted person is not able to give up drugs without assistance as it results in intolerable physical suffering. Withdrawal pains suffered by an addicted person require professional treatment but for this purpose the doctor in charge should understand specific changes in the brain of addicted people. The addiction treatment will be ineffective without such knowledge.
Many drug abuse centers keep patients for a long-term addiction treatment. It means that the patient stays in an intensive care department for a long time (several weeks). Long-term and ineffective addiction treatment includes a combination of hypnotics, anesthetics, neuroleptics and antidepressants, but unfortunately such treatment of heroin and methadone addicts have a very low efficiency all over the world. Most patients discontinue treatment in a few days after the course starts because of intolerable withdrawal pains – physical suffering.
Jacob Hiller’s addiction treatment includes a 2-days’ stay in the intensive care department including from 4 to 6 hours in the resuscitation department. After such stay the patient does not have craving for drugs: heroin, methadone, etc. These drugs are called opiates as they initially originate from the word “opium”.
Opium and its derivatives are the collective name for such drugs as: heroin, codeine, morphine. Opiate addiction also includes ddiction of synthetic drugs: methadone, subutex and others. All these substances have similar chemical structure, so they enter into cells through receptors located in the brain.
Repeated use of opiates makes the brain accumulate large quantity of so called noradrenogenic substances (click here to see hundreds of scientific publications describing the role of such substances in opiate addiction development). Opiates obstruct the withdrawal of such substances in blood that is why absence of the next opiate dose releases them in blood vessels and causes strong physical and mental suffering, abstinence symptoms (withdrawal pains). In order to avoid withdrawal pains, a person needs to take the next dose and this means that he or she has already become an addict and he or she needs of an addiction treatment.
During Jacob Hiller’s addiction treatment the noradrenergic substances are removed from the brain using medicines and after that the patients do not experience craving for opiates any more. At the same time the patient is provided with medicines which help to avoid gastrointestinal disorders and support all vital functions within normal limits. Thus opiate addiction treatment is carried out safely in all respects.
Anesthesia remains active up to the end of the manipulation. Then the patient wakes up, and in 2-3 hours after completion he/she is already in a healthy condition. Within 24 hours (more, if needed) the patient stays under medical supervision in the drug addiction treatment Center and after that he or she goes home with medicines which are to be taken for 3-4 months. Such medicines help to restore affected sleep and biochemical processes.
In a couple of days after opiate addiction treatment the patient is recommended to return to active lifestyle (work, studies, sport). If desired, after treatment the patient gets medicines and psychological aid reducing the percentage of failures to minimum (almost to zero!) for 3 months.
You can read the detailed description of successful addiction treatment experience and recovery of 500 patients using Jacob Hiller’s method in section Major Decision of Italian Ministry of Health” on our website.
Noradrenergic substances are the group of biochemically powerful substances generated in the brain in response to presence of drugs similar to heroin. The presence of such substances results in withdrawal syndrome. The longer opiates are taken, the greater amount of noradrenergic substances is accumulated, and this results in need to increase the dose in order to prevent withdrawal pains.
For more information, please visit the homepage of our website dedicated to opiate addiction treatment (and click the highlighted link).