David Kroll, Contributor
Over the 12-week course of the randomized, double-blind,
placebo-controlled study, the drug, gabapentin, decreased the number of
“heavy drinking days” and at least tripled the percentage of drinkers
able to remain completely alcohol-free, when compared with those
receiving an inactive placebo.The study, led by Dr. Barbara J. Mason of The Scripps Research Institute’s Pearson Center for Alcoholism and Addiction Research, was published online today in JAMA Internal Medicine.
This early phase II clinical trial builds on work by the Scripps team and others who’ve identified in newly-abstinent drinkers that gabapentin dampens the brain’s stress response that’s activated during alcohol deprivation. Gabapentin, currently approved for epilepsy and neuropathic pain and used off-label to prevent migraines, not only helped drinkers with their alcohol consumption but also reduced alcohol craving and improved mood and sleep quality, all factors that normally trigger drinking relapses...Read more...
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