EPTEvery time there's a sensationalist news article or thread it turns out to be bunk. I appreciate that this isn't a peer review kind of website but when something sounds that good, it's my instinct to believe it will be significantly less enormous than originally stated.
A Cure for Alcoholism? - Page 11
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Probe1
United States17920 Posts
Every time there's a sensationalist news article or thread it turns out to be bunk. I appreciate that this isn't a peer review kind of website but when something sounds that good, it's my instinct to believe it will be significantly less enormous than originally stated. | ||
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hifriend
China7935 Posts
On July 22 2011 10:37 Probe1 wrote: That isn't my job. I only have to be scrupulous while the FDA tests it in relation to alcoholism treatment. Every time there's a sensationalist news article or thread it turns out to be bunk. I appreciate that this isn't a peer review kind of website but when something sounds that good, it's my instinct to believe it will be significantly less enormous than originally stated. Think I've read the announcement of "cure for hiv/aids has been found!" at minimum 3 times on this website alone.  edit had to check HIV cured ! =O Man officially cured of HIV AIDS / HIV Cure Man's body cured itself of HIV AIDS Possible HIV cure? | ||
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jdseemoreglass
United States3773 Posts
On July 22 2011 10:37 Probe1 wrote: That isn't my job. I only have to be scrupulous while the FDA tests it in relation to alcoholism treatment. Every time there's a sensationalist news article or thread it turns out to be bunk. I appreciate that this isn't a peer review kind of website but when something sounds that good, it's my instinct to believe it will be significantly less enormous than originally stated. Fair enough. I am a very skeptical person myself. The reason I am enthusiastic about this treatment is partly because the people who are singing it's praises are not from any company or advertising campaign, etc. but are the patients themselves who are experiencing help. Of course nothing is a perfect solution. If anything, the drug will help to shed more light on the nature of addiction in the brain, so that one day perhaps we can effectively cure it with something as simple as a pill. Another reason I am enthusiastic about it is because of how safe the drug is, as shown by numerous studies and decades of use. If you contrast it with other addiction-treatment drugs, such as methadone, it is certainly much safer. And yet, we are widely prescribing methadone to people to help with addiction. Also, drugs like disulfiram are very dangerous. They prevent the liver from processing alcohol, causing severe intoxication symptoms if any alcohol is consumed. The idea is aversion therapy, that the patient will fear getting sick so much that they will stop drinking. The problem is such drugs do not treat the cravings themselves, and if the patient DOES consume large enough amounts of alcohol on them, they will die. My wife and I have both lost family members to alcoholism, so it's something that has affected us profoundly and it is something I've spent some time studying. I have a lot of experience with the standard treatment protocols, and I also know how ineffective most of them are at actually treating people. The brain's physiology is simply more powerful than any words or support group you can offer people. Addiction is one of the few diseases whose treatment has remained virtually unchanged for more than 75 years. The ideas and methods have been essentially the same since AA was founded in 1935. The fact that there are severe alcoholics in the world right now who are walking around with absolutely no craving for alcohol, because of a pill, is extremely encouraging. | ||
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Probe1
United States17920 Posts
Mouth full of bullshit words I agree Baclofen should be pursued strongly as a treatment along with traditional support therapies after additional testing and double blind studies to verify the safety in general use by alcoholics. The current double blind study's method Methods: A total of 39 alcohol-dependent patients were consecutively enrolled in the study. After 12–24 h of abstinence from alcohol, patients were randomly divided into two groups. Twenty patients were treated with baclofen and 19 with placebo. Drug and placebo were orally administered for 30 consecutive days. Baclofen was administered at the dose of 15 mg/day for the first 3 days and 30 mg/day for the subsequent 27 days, divided into three daily doses. Patients were monitored as out-patients on a weekly basis. At each visit alcohol intake, abstinence from alcohol, alcohol craving and changes in affective disorders were evaluated. Upon seeing a hundredfold increase in trial size and tripled duration of testing produce similar results, I would be very convinced. With one year of successful usage without acute and terrible side effects then I would be completely convinced. However I understand the urgency that I read implied in your posts. I, too, have had alcoholic friends and still have one surviving. If I could convince him to try something new like this, I may go back on my stance in my posts and recommend him to talk to his doctor. Small, insignificant end note: Don't compare methadone to alcohol dependency drugs. Methadone is a necessary evil, barely better than the opiates it replaces. It does little to cure the dependency on heroin for users and is incredibly dangerous. It is a stopgap measure to help people quit. (*One of my closest friends used to abuse methadone clinics when she couldn't afford heroin. I'm slightly tilted in my bias) | ||
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