THE PHARMACOLOGICAL TREATMENT OF ALCOHOLISM - FROM BASIC SCIENCE TO CLINICAL MEDICINE

VERBANCK PMP

Pmp. Verbanck, THE PHARMACOLOGICAL TREATMENT OF ALCOHOLISM - FROM BASIC SCIENCE TO CLINICAL MEDICINE, Alcohol and alcoholism, 30(6), 1995, pp. 757-764

81

INGLESE

Article

Substance Abuse

Alcohol and alcoholism → ACNP

0735-0414

30

6

1995

757 - 764

ISI

0735-0414(1995)30:6<757:TPTOA->2.0.ZU;2-3

Recent advances in the understanding of the neurobiological basis of a lcohol dependence have led to the development of pharmacological agent s for the treatment of drinking problems. However, alcoholism is a com plex disease with psychological and social dimensions in addition to m edical problems. This implies that, in this domain, pharmacotherapy mu st be integrated in a general strategy of treatment and directed to sp ecific aspects of management of the disease, such as treatment or prev ention of the withdrawal syndrome or prevention of relapse after detox ification. Whereas the treatment of the withdrawal syndrome with pharm acological agents such as the benzodiazepines is now an established pr actice, the use of drugs for other dimensions of the disease is more c ontroversial. However, the pharmacological approach aimed towards prev ention of relapse appears promising, by means of classical medications such as disulfiram or new drugs (e.g. opiate antagonists and acampros ate). The clinical evaluation of such medications requires guidelines that will permit extrapolation of the results of the trials to situati ons that are commonly faced by practitioners.