Pharmacotherapies for Alcoholism: Promising Agents and Clinical Issues |
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Authors: | Raye Z. Litten John P. Allen |
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Affiliation: | Treatment Research Branch, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Rockville, Maryland 20857. |
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Abstract: | The past 10 years have witnessed important advances in research on pharmacotherapy for alcoholism. Promising drugs are discussed under six headings: agents to treat alcohol withdrawal; anticraving agents; agents that make drinking an aversive experience; agents to alleviate concomitant psychiatric problems; agents to treat concurrent drug abuse; and amethystic ("sobering-up") agents. Research on the drug classes is summarized and clinical issues surrounding specific agents and alcoholism pharmacotherapy in general are discussed. Finally, long-range therapeutic implications of recent findings on the actions of alcohol on basic mechanisms of the brain are offered. |
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Keywords: | Pharmacotherapy Alcoholism |
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