Alcohol Treatment Drug Options
For individual suffering from alcoholism and chronic alcohol addiction, the most effective course of treatment may very well be a carefully managed administration of alcohol treatment drugs under supervised medical care, that are specifically designed for alcohol abstinence or the reduction of alcohol withdrawal and cravings.
As of 2010, the FDA estimates that approximately 1/3 of Americans consume enough alcohol to be considered “at risk” for alcohol dependence and addiction. Alcohol dependence and alcohol abuse are associated with as many as 110,000 deaths from alcohol related injuries and diseases each and every year. The economic cost to society from alcohol abuse and dependence is simply staggering, estimated to be approximately $200 billion a year as a 2005.
Fortunately, several medications that are considered generally safe, have been proven to be extremely effective when used as a medical tool for intervention with drinkers who might be currently considered “problem drinkers”, but may very well be on their way to becoming full-blown alcoholics. Counseling and 12-step programs have provided the foundation of support for long-term treatment of alcoholism, but effective alcohol treatment drugs, both those tried-and-true as well as new and experimental have played an increasingly pivotal role in the effective management of alcohol harm reduction, abstinence, and recovery.
In the United States, there are currently 3 FDA approved drug treatment medications, Atnabuse (disulfiram), Naltrexone, and Acamprosate that are used for the short and long treatment and management of alcohol abuse.
Disulfiram (Atabuse), an ”aversive agent” with a 40+ year history of use in alcoholism treatment. Unfortunately, when critically and objectively measured, disulfiram has been fairly disappointing when measured agaist the goal of alcohol abstinance. With its significant side effects and low patient compliance rates, Antabuse has not lived up to its promise of increasing abstinence rates and decreasing relapse rates nor does it have any effect on reducing alcohol cravings.
