Naltrexone shows positive results

Penn State Live reports that a pilot study has shown encouraging results in using naltrexone to treat Crohn's disease.

In the study, patients with diagnosed Crohn's disease were treated with a low dose of naltrexone, an FDA-approved drug used to ease symptoms of withdrawal from substance abuse, and monitored for improvement of symptoms for 12 weeks. Quality of life surveys were given every four weeks for 16 weeks.

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The results showed that 89 percent of participants showed an improvement with therapy, while 67 percent achieved remission of symptoms. The only side effect to treatment was sleep disturbance in some patients.

In addition to combatting drug and alcohol addiction, naltrexone is also used to treat multiple sclerosis (though its effectiveness has yet to be proven), which like Crohn's is a disease of the immune system.