Uppsala University (Sweden) researchers have found that brain cells likely to die from continued opiate use might be saved by injections of synthetic human growth hormone (HGH).

In their study, mouse nerve cells exposed to morphine began to die off, but those exposed to both morphine and HGH persisted, and in some cases, increased.

Previous studies show that chronic opiate use can disrupt new cell growth (neurogenesis) in the hippocampus, a midbrain region implicated in short-term and so-called episodic memory (places, people and emotions linked to events). The researchers believe that opiates have the same effect as aging by blocking the formation of new nerve cells, and that HGH has the power to clear the pathways and get the process rolling again.