'Similarities' between opiate and nicotine addictions

The brain reacts in a similar way to both nicotine and opiates such as heroin, a new study has revealed.

Researchers at the University of Chicago Medical Centre have found that the effects of nicotine and opiates are equally strong in the nucleus accumbens, the brain's pleasure sensor.

A study using rat brain tissue found that within the nucleus accumbens, the release of dopamine - a neurotransmitter central to the body's system of reward and addiction - is almost identical whether the body has consumed tobacco or heroin.

Writing in the Journal of Neuroscience, the researchers say there is an overlap in the way the two drugs work, with the brain experiencing pleasure and the release of dopamine instigating a desire to experience the substance again.

"There is a specific part of the nucleus accumbens where opiates have been shown to affect behaviour, and when we tested nicotine in that area the effects on dopamine are almost identical," explained Daniel McGehee, associate professor in anaesthesia and critical care at the University of Chicago.

"It also demonstrates the seriousness of tobacco addiction, equating its grip on the individual to that of heroin. It reinforces the fact that these addictions are very physiological in nature and that breaking away from the habit is certainly more than just mind over matter."End of story


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