A 2026 umbrella review of 16 systematic reviews covering 371 trials found strong medication evidence for tobacco and opioid use disorders, modest benefits for alcohol use disorder, and no approved drugs for stimulant or cannabis use disorders.1 Varenicline more than doubled smoking quit rates vs. placebo, methadone kept people in opioid treatment longer than buprenorphine, …
The endogenous opioid system has been a candidate target for novel anxiety treatments, but a 2026 placebo-controlled crossover fMRI study in 38 healthy volunteers ran opposite the hypothesis: instead of increasing threat-related distress and amygdala reactivity, 50 mg oral naltrexone reduced subjective distress during cognitive reappraisal (p = 0.044, d = 0.57) and shifted ventromedial …
Lisdexamfetamine remains the only FDA-approved medication for binge-eating disorder — a serious condition affecting roughly 1.2% of adults. A 2026 human laboratory study by McKee and colleagues tests whether naltrexone/bupropion, already approved for obesity, reduces the food-reward mechanisms that drive binge episodes.1 Research Highlights Binge-eating disorder (BED) is the most common eating disorder in the …
Naltrexone is a chemical initially synthesized in 1963 and patented thereafter by the pharmaceutical company Endo Laboratories in 1967. It is considered a substituted derivative of oxymorphone in that the tertiary amine methyl-constituent is replaced with an allyl group (specifically an N-cyclopropylmethyl group) – or a longer chain of carbon atoms. It was initially approved …
Naltrexone is a pure opioid receptor antagonist utilized principally for the treatment of alcohol and opioid dependence. As an opioid receptor antagonist, naltrexone competitively binds to mu-opioid receptor (MOR) and kappa-opioid receptor (KOR) sites with higher affinity than opioid agonists, thereby attenuating receptor activation. Should an individual administer an opioid agonist (e.g. morphine) while taking …
In September 2014, the FDA recently approved a new weight loss drug Contrave. This drug is considered the third pharmaceutical treatment for obesity in the United States. Although it probably seems odd to mention a weight loss drug on a mental health website, the fact is that this new drug is a formulation of two …