Alcoholism Can Be Cured With Medication

REALLY? –

June 8, 2024 – Research has shown that brain damage caused by alcohol can be reversed in 7.3 months after abstinence, but there are probably many people who think, ‘If I can quit drinking, it won’t be a struggle.’ Acohol use disorder, in which you can’t control your drinking of your own volition, is a difficult problem, but experts say there are several drug therapies that can help improve the condition. Alcohol use disorder can be treated with an array of medications – but few people have heard of them

Alcohol has long-term effects such as liver disease, heart disease, and cancer, as well as short-term effects such as car accidents, acute poisoning, and suicide, and in the United States, it accounts for one-fifth of deaths among people aged 20 to 49. This is more than the combined total of deaths from overdose of all substances other than alcohol, including opioid use disorder , which is also a serious problem in the United States.

But alcohol use disorder is by no means incurable: Joseph P. Schacht, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus who has studied the pharmacotherapy of alcohol use disorder for 15 years, points out that there are effective treatments for alcohol use disorder, including psychotherapy, self-help groups , and medication.

Yet fewer than 10% of people with alcohol use disorder receive treatment, and fewer than 3% receive specific medication-based treatment, far lower than the 22% who receive treatment for opioid use disorder.