Wednesday, October 31, 2012
The little pill that could cure alcoholism
When an alcoholic doctor began experimenting with Baclofen, he made what could be the medical breakthrough of the century.
"...The truth was that Ameisen, for all his successes in life, was consumed
with self-loathing and shame. He was a hopeless alcoholic – hopeless in
the sense that, though he seemed able to achieve anything else he put
his mind to, he could not stop drinking. Despite running a thriving
private practice in New York, in his late thirties he had become a binge
drinker and by 1997 was regularly being admitted to hospital. He tried
any treatment available: tranquillisers including Valium and Xanax,
antidepressants and specific alcohol
medications including Antabuse and Acamprosate. He underwent
acupuncture and hypnosis, took regular exercise and practised yoga. He
attended cognitive behavioural therapy and up to three meetings of
Alcoholics Anonymous a day. But his drinking only got worse: "The more I
drank to ease my anxiety, stave off panic and counter draining
insomnia, the more I had to drink for the same effect." No longer
trusting himself to treat his patients responsibly, he stopped working
altogether. Finally his doctors told him he had "at best" five years of
life left..."...Read complete article here...
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