Alcohol misuse

Alcohol use and health

The UK National Institute of Clinical Excellence issued a statement on alcohol use in response to the Department of Health new proposed guidance on alcohol use. Both make interesting reading. The bottom line as already widely publicized, is that men should drink no more than 14 units of alcohol per week, and pregnant women should […]

Prevalence of drug use in US

Following up on an earlier post about the prevalence of mental disorder, I just found this which reports that the 12 month prevalence of Alcohol Use Disorders as defined by DSM5 are 14% in US. Again, it is easy to see how New York found such high rates of mental disorders among its inhabitants.

Topiramate for harmful alcohol misuse?

I have seen several editorials recently pushing topiramate, a relatively new generation anti-epileptic medication, for patients who are heavy alcohol users. A couple of recent studies provide the research base for this renewed interest (for example, Kranzler et al 2014 available here) and comparisons with naltrexone and disulfiram have shown some promise but hardly suggest […]

Modulating cravings

This article by Khemiri et al published online in European Neuropsychopharmacology reports some evidence regarding an experimental drug with potential future uses for alcohol dependence. This work seems to have grown out of preliminary evidence of the impact of aripiprazole and modafinil on alcohol use and reinforcing behavior. I think the effects of medications on […]