Medicine May Help Alcoholics

Story from Rednova News ~ 2005/07/22

Alcoholism should be treated with medications, much like depression, a U.S. scientific institute said for the first time, a suggestion that could help prompt a shift in treatment emphasis to doctors from counselors.

Although counseling and abstinence programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous are widely used and considered effective, three approved drugs - disulfiram, or Antabuse; naltrexone; and Campral - can also help patients, said Mark Willenbring, director of the treatment and recovery research division of National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism..

"Treatment for alcohol dependency is about to shift dramatically," Willenbring said. "It's about to become what treatment of depression is now." Depression is treated with a variety of agents, including such drugs as Prozac.

Alcoholism treatments are being studied in at least 16 human trials, according to the National Institutes of Health.

His institute this week sent a revised guide to doctors suggesting for the first time that they "consider adding medications" when treating alcoholics.

Alcoholics are more likely to see an alcoholism counselor than a doctor for treatment, Willenbring said, and most don't receive approved drugs.

"There's usually no physician in sight" when alcoholics seek treatment, Willenbring said. "That's one of the key barriers to drug treatment."

Willenbring spoke with reporters at an American Medical Association-sponsored briefing on alcoholism Thursday in New York. The revised 2005 NIAAA guide contains information about drug treatment of alcoholism for the first time, he said.

The guide is used to advise general practitioners and internists. "Consider adding medications whenever you are treating someone with active alcohol dependence or someone who has stopped drinking in the past few months who is experiencing problems such as cravings or slips," the new guide said.

About 15 percent of people in the U.S. have drinking problems, according to the NIH. Alcohol and drug abuse costs the U.S. economy an estimated $276 billion a year in lost work, health costs, crime, car crashes and other expenses, according to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence.