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Published online 28 May 2008 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2008.859
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Epilepsy drug may help alcoholics
Drug eases alcohol cravings and anxiety in rats addicted to alcohol.
A drug used to treat epilepsy could also ease cravings in alcoholics, say researchers who have investigated the effect in rats.
The drug, called gabapentin, is approved for the treatment of epileptic seizures and for some conditions that cause chronic pain.
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A government subsidizing production for revenue has no moral basis to complain about use. Why must addiction be thwarted? Limit the addict to maintenance dosage, expel it from society, or allow it to die of its own fully sated appetities. None of these three alternatives is nearly as expensive, ineffective, or counterproductive as virulent do-goodism.
If gabapentin's GABA mechanism is at work here then other GABA acting drugs such as Vigabatrin may also show similar effect on alcohol consumption and anxiety.
There is a natural alternative for reducing alcohol cravings called Kudzu. I am not certain that it works in the same way but it certainly does _reduce_ cravings for alcohol in humans.
Someone asked "why must addiction be thwarted"! I can't believe anyone would have to ask that, given the HUGE cost of addiction to alcohol and other drugs to this society. If the person who feels that addicts should be "allowed to die", etc., and has no compassion for THEM, perhaps he might at least consider the innocent people killed each day by drunk drivers, victims of domestic violence, and child abuse, whose abusers were DRUNK or high while committing the crime. Or maybe his heart would be more moved by the profit motive; millions of dollars are lost by companies who have addicted employees, doing poor jobs, messing up (how about airline pilots and doctors who work while under the influence?!), or are out sick and using company insurance to pay for detox or rehab? Addiction will never be stamped out, but any safe solution (unlike a drug such as Antabuse®; it can kill you if you drink while taking it, such is the power of addiction!), that curbs alcohol and drug use, is a benefit to ALL society, not just addicts and their families. I suppose this person never knew an alcoholic closely enough to experience the tragedy of trying to help someone or watch them try to get sober, only to fail and often die. I'm sure this person never heard the expression: "Love the alcoholic, hate the disease"!
In India, Alcoholism is still viewed not as a 'disease' but as the responsibility of the individual (or the lack of it). But interestingly, society and the 'state' seems to be condoning it or ignoring it because this addiction has been a steady source of income to the state's coffers and is justified as these funds can then be used for developmental activities. But the social consequences of wide-spread alcoholism has had devastating effects on family life and professional competence. As mentioned by Susan Tolbert, the victims of alcoholism are often innocent family members or victims of auto accidents. Our Union health minister has been trying to ban showing of smoking and drinking in mass media and feature films of India but his efforts have so far been met with derision and contempt and is routinely accused of 'moral policing'. How does one tackle this menace which if left unchecked, is sure to destroy the very fabric of civil society? Rajesh Santhanam