Brain Mechanisms are the Same for Drug Addiction and Obesity

Apparently, drug addiction and obesity are two of the most difficult health problems that the United States is encountering. Because of this fact, a lot of scientists and health experts are making several clinical trials and researches to identify ways on how to treat the two conditions.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), which is a component of the National Institutes of Health in the United States have funded a research about drug addiction and the development of obesity. The research has found out that the brain mechanisms that work when drug addiction occurs in humans are the same as the development of compulsive eating behaviors leading to the development of obesity.

The subjects of the study were rats that were given with unlimited access to high fat foods. The unrestricted availability of these foods can trigger an addiction-like brain mechanism which leads to compulsive eating behaviors resulting to obesity.

As found out id previous studies, addiction and obesity are considered to be a dysfunction in the brain’s reward system. Hence, it is over consumption that can trigger the reward threshold in then brain which results to more consumption of either foods or drugs  in order to satisfy the cravings.

The researchers of the study have mentioned that this recent study can open doors to treatment for obesity and drug addiction. They said that the drugs used to treat addiction can also be used for treating those with compulsive eating behaviors since the mechanisms that happen in the brain are almost similar.

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