Stress Hormone can Help Fight Heroin Cravings, Study Reports

Cortisol, known as the stress hormone, might be vital in stopping people's addiction to heroin, a new study reported.

For this study, the research team from the University of Basel in Switzerland recruited 29 patients who were receiving heroin-assisted treatment. The team gave the patients either a placebo pill or a cortisol tablet.

The researchers found that patients who took cortisol reported a decrease in their cravings by an average of 25 percent in comparison to those who took the placebo. They noted that patients who were dependent on a much smaller amount of heroin reported the decrease in cravings. Patients who were grouped as highly dependent did not find the cortisol tablet helpful in deterring their cravings.

The team plans on researching how cortisol affects patients' day-to-day lives. The goal, according to Dominique de Quervain, the director of Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences at the University, is to find out whether "the inhibitory effect of cortisol on addictive cravings might also have positive implications for nicotine, alcohol or gambling addiction."

"We want to examine whether cortisol can help patients reduce their heroin dosage or remain abstinent from heroin for longer," added Marc Walter, chief physician at the Psychiatric University Clinics (UPK) Basel.

The study was published in Translational Psychiatry.