Adolescent drug addiction treatment and weight gain.
Neurotransmitter release in the nucleus accumbens use has been linked to self-administration and learning following drug use. This endogenous reward system is also activated following food intake or sex. Therefore, rebound hyperphagia following abstinence may be a mechanism to replenish the release of neurotransmitters in this reward system, leading to increased weight gain and a rise in body mass index during recovery from substance abuse. In this report, we examined the relationship between supervised drug abstinence and increased weight gain among adolescents at a residential substance abuse treatment center. Mean weight change over time was followed by repeated analysis of weight and body mass index. Significant weight gain and body mass index increase was observed during supervised and confirmed abstinence from drug use. Furthermore, significant interactions between tobacco use and primary substance use disorder with weight gain was demonstrated by multivariate analysis of variance.
Hodgkins
Candace C
CC
Gateway Community Services, Inc., 555 Stockton Street, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA.
Cahill
Kevin S
KS
Seraphine
Anne E
AE
Frost-Pineda
Kimberly
K
Gold
Mark S
MS
D000293:Adolescent; D015992:Body Mass Index; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009714:Nucleus Accumbens / Q000502:physiology*; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology; D012201:Reward; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D015430:Weight Gain