Acamprosate For Alcohol: Why the Research Might Be Wrong

http://www.mybiologica.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/9d91536.Calcium.jpg

Calcium may be curbing the urge to drink.“Occasionally,” reads the opening sentence of a commentary published online last month in Neuropsychopharmacology, “a paper comes along that fundamentally challenges what we thought we knew about a drug mechanism.” The drug in question is acamprosate, and the mechanism of action under scrutiny is the drug’s ability to promote abstinence in alcoholics. The author of the unusual commentary is Markus Heilig, Chief of the Laboratory of Clinical and Translational Studies at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).Acamprosate, in use worldwide and currently the most widely prescribed medication for alcohol dependence in the U.S., may work by an entirely different mechanism than scientists have believed on the basis of hundreds of studies over …


Read More: Acamprosate For Alcohol: Why the Research Might Be Wrong

#Acamprosate, #Addiction-Treatment, #Article, #Chief, #Journal, #King, #Major, #Neuropsychopharmacolo, #Spanagel, #University

Addiction Treatment After Naloxone

http://www.mybiologica.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/d48cNaloxone-Kit-pic211-600x285.jpg

Photo Credit California is now following the footsteps of Colorado and other states that allows the use of naloxone or Narcan, an FDA approved, non-addictive drug that prevents heroin overdose.California Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 635 into law, which took effect on January 1st of this year permitting the use of naloxone by non-medical professionals across the state. Just this week, Gil Kerlikowske the White House Director of National Drug Control Policy highlighted the effectiveness of naloxone as one of many attempts to limit the rise of heroin abuse and overdose in the US. Currently, more than 100 overdose deaths occur from heroin abuse in the US each day. The death of Philip Seymour Hoffman last week was one of an estimated 700 that occurred that…


Read More: Addiction Treatment After Naloxone

#Addiction-Treatment, #Colorado, #Director, #Drug-Detox, #Overdose, #Philip, #Senate-Bill-14, #White