As a physician practicing addiction medicine, I have treated thousands of addicts over the years. Unfortunately, I have seen firsthand the difficulty patients encounter when quitting and trying to stay clean. Standard addiction treatments focus on the symptoms associated with addiction without considering the root cause. Symptoms are treated using replacement therapies, and psychiatric drugs. All too often, addiction patients relapse. Addicts can be in treatment for years, sometimes a lifetime, yet they are never really cured. Recurrence is almost expected, with relapse rates exceeding 50% in most cases. While addiction patients and their families are looking for a way to end their addiction, medicine just does not have a satisfying answer.

When we founded Nuraleve, we set out on a journey to find a better way to address addiction. We wanted to improve patient care and success outcomes; in essence, aim for the etiology instead of just the symptoms. When my friend and longtime colleague, Dr. Brian Dressler, attended a seminar on utilizing transcranial direct current stimulation, he quickly understood the scientific possibilities relating to addiction and how we might utilize this unique technology for use in the addiction field.

We have since dedicated ourselves to the research and development of approaches that would help us achieve success in reaching those goals.

We look forward to the day when addiction patients will no longer require life-long treatment, but until that day comes, we’ll be here continuing our work. Our commitment to excellence in combining medicine, science and engineering is revealing a new way forward in the field of addiction.

Stanley Shapiro, MD