HARCP Archives

Browse by article

Browse by volume

Heroin Addiction and Related Clinical Problems: 2007, 09, 2 (pages: 17 - 26)

Brain Disintegration in Heroin Addicts: The Natural Course of the Disease and the Effects of Methadone Treatment

Polunina A. G., Davydov D. M., Kozlov A.

Summary: The present review aims to clear up the issue of the neurological processes underlying the personality changes induced by chronic opioid use. The effects of methadone treatment on brain functions have been analyzed, too. Brain disintegration becomes evident very soon after an onset of chronic heroin abuse and continues throughout the period of drug consumption. A considerable proportion of opioid addicts are characterized by conspicuous neuropsychological deficits, which preclude the maintenance of complete opioid abstinence in this patient subgroup. At present, there are no data to testify that the effects of methadone maintenance on brain functions exceed the adverse neurological effects of chronic heroin use.