Medications that could help alcoholics quit drinking are rarely prescribed, according to a new study released Tuesday. The drugs — acamprosate and naltrexone — reduce cravings for alcohol, but researchers say there's a lack of awareness and understanding of their efficacy among doctors.
The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, focused on "the number needed to treat," The New York Times reports. That is an indicator of how many people have to take a pill for one to be helped; this study found that the number to treat for acamprosate was 12, while naltrexone was 20 (widely used drugs like statins need at least 25 people, often much more). The researchers only looked at the effectiveness of the drugs in combination with counseling and therapy.
"These drugs are really underused quite a bit, and our findings show that they can help thousands and thousands of people," says lead author Dr. Daniel E. Jonas at the University of North Carolina. "They're not blockbuster. They're not going to work for everybody. But they can make a difference for a lot of people." The World Health Organization just reported that alcohol kills someone every 10 seconds worldwide. In the U.S. about 18 million people abuse alcohol, not quite a third of those receive treatment, and less than 10 percent are prescribed medications, The New York Times said.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
SpaceX breaks Starship losing streak in 10th testspeed read The Starship rocket's test flight was largely successful, deploying eight dummy satellites during its hour in space
-
Rabbits with 'horns' sighted across Coloradospeed read These creatures are infected with the 'mostly harmless' Shope papilloma virus
-
Lithium shows promise in Alzheimer's studySpeed Read Potential new treatments could use small amounts of the common metal
-
Scientists discover cause of massive sea star die-offSpeed Read A bacteria related to cholera has been found responsible for the deaths of more than 5 billion sea stars
-
'Thriving' ecosystem found 30,000 feet underseaSpeed Read Researchers discovered communities of creatures living in frigid, pitch-black waters under high pressure
-
New York plans first nuclear plant in 36 yearsSpeed Read The plant, to be constructed somewhere in upstate New York, will produce enough energy to power a million homes
-
Dehorning rhinos sharply cuts poaching, study findsSpeed Read The painless procedure may be an effective way to reduce the widespread poaching of rhinoceroses
-
Breakthrough gene-editing treatment saves babyspeed read KJ Muldoon was healed from a rare genetic condition
