Ray Quock -- a pharmacologist and Washington State University psychology professor -- gave morphine-addicted mice pure pressurized oxygen before they began withdrawal from the drug. The mice had far less severe withdrawal symptoms than addicted mice that did not receive the treatment.
Outwardly, said Quock, the treated mice appeared "much calmer. You can tell the difference."
Writing this month in the journal Brain Research, Quock and his colleagues say implications of the discovery are of "profound importance." While current therapies for treating heroin addiction can provide relief from withdrawal, they themselves can be addictive. Moreover, the finding comes amid a national heroin epidemic in which use of the drug has doubled among young adults over the past decade, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
Meanwhile, withdrawal symptoms can be so severe that some addicts will continue taking the drug to avoid the process, said Quock.
But while the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved using hyperbaric oxygen therapy for 14 specific indications -- including carbon monoxide poisoning, decompression sickness and wound healing -- it is not approved for drug withdrawal. A physician could administer the therapy for such an off-label use, said Quock, but it would not be covered by medical insurance.
Comment: Read more about the benefits of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT): The Most Overlooked, Effective Prescription Drug