Drugs to treat alcohol addiction are underused
Nearly 30m Americans suffer from alcohol-use disorder, meaning that alcohol has a significant and negative impact on their lives. Over 140,000 die from alcohol-related causes each year: alcohol is the fourth-highest cause of preventable death in America. These statistics are especially devastating because for many people the suffering could have been avoided.
For decades drugs have existed to help with alcohol addiction. Disulfiram, also known as Antabuse, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1951. It deters alcohol use by causing patients to get ill when they drink. Naltrexone was approved in 1984, and acamprosate 20 years later. They help reduce alcohol cravings and make withdrawal more manageable. These drugs work “fairly well if not dramatically well in most patients”, says Joshua Lee, of New York University Grossman School of Medicine, who specialises in addiction medicine. Other drugs, such as topiramate, are used “off-label” for alcoholism: ie, doctors prescribe them for reasons beyond their approved use by the FDA.
These drugs are as effective for treating alcoholism as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (such as Prozac) are for depression. Yet they are rarely prescribed. Fewer than 2% of patients with alcohol-use disorder report using any medication. By comparison, 22% of patients with opioid problems and over half of patients with depression take prescription drugs.
2023-09-14 06:55:18
Link from www.economist.com