Recent bulletins from the
drug and alcohol bank:Largest US study yet favours naltrexone as alcoholism medication
Reanalyses of major US study confirmed that either naltrexone or psychological therapy improved outcomes more than medical care and placebos, while the two in combination or acamprosate added little. They also revealed previously invisible benefits when certain types of patients received certain treatments – and some hidden negatives, including a suggestion that acamprosate is counterproductive for the most needy but also most motivated alcoholics.
Acamprosate as effective for alcohol-dependent women as for men
First comprehensive analysis of whether acamprosate treatment works as well for alcohol-dependent women as for men definitively concludes that across 22 mainly European trials it had a virtually identical impact. The analysis also offers an updated and extended assessment of the drug's overall impact, finding that it helps prevent heavy drinking as well as fostering abstinence.
Clinicians can learn how to help alcohol patients stay in treatment and take medication
Getting patients to take their medication is a major issue across medicine. This US alcohol treatment study enhanced compliance with treatment through a novel and manageable approach combining brief motivational interviewing with structured clinical counselling involving feedback on the patient's real-time pill-taking record.
Winners and losers from street drinking bans
So-called 'alcohol-free zones' have proliferated across the UK, preventing an individual drinking in public if police believe their drinking is causing a problem. This review finds such measures do reassure communities, but at the expense of further marginalising street drinkers.
