A naturally occurring drug called ibogaine may yield new treatments for alcoholism. Ibogaine has been shown to reverse addiction to various drugs. Some reports have shown that even after a single dose cravings and withdrawal to cocaine and narcotics-type pain relievers such as morphine can be reduced, say researchers from the University of California San Francisco (UCSF).According to the researchers, drug abuse/addiction activates reward regions in the brain. Despite the negative consequences of alcohol, addiction to alcohol manifests itself as uncontrolled drinking. In lab tests, alcohol-addicted mice drank less alcohol after being injected with ibogaine. Ibogaine also helped the mice stay “on the wagon” after being weaned off alcohol.That may sound promising, since there are few drugs to help treat alcoholism.drugs to help treat alcoholism. But there’s a big catch. Ibogaine is a hallucinogen, and at high doses it’s toxic to certain nerve cells, which can lead to body tremors and difficulty walking, according to studies done on rodents. That’s why ibogaine -- which comes from the root bark of an African shrub -- is not approved for human use in the U.S. Still, word has gotten around about ibogaine over the years.
