Ever wondered why each day as you took your next diltiazem (Cardizem) pill that “hey, I’m not craving cocaine today!”? Well, wonder no more. Scientists at Boston University have recently found that diltiazem, a calcium channel blocker used to control blood pressure, can actually reduce cocaine cravings, at least in mice (they get all the good drugs!).
Dopamine and glutamate are two chemicals in your brain that are blamed for the highly addictive properties of cocaine. Both of these chemicals are basically pleasure compounds, and your brain has a lot to learn from pleasure compounds. The happier your brain gets, the happier it likes to stay, so therefore you become addictive to certain drugs, like cocaine, that release these compounds. Where diltiazem comes in is that, as a calcium channel blocker, it disrupts the communication between these compounds, in which calcium is needed. No calcium means no communication, which leads to less happy feelings from the cocaine, and less cravings. No wonder you haven’t had any of those cocaine cravings while on diltiazem all those years.
This research will be published in the March issue of Nature Neuroscience. There are currently no drug therapies for cocaine addiction. Do not, however, start taking diltiazem if you are addicted to cocaine, unless you are a rat, in which case if you are a cocaine addict rat, please e-mail me…
