IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i3p1870-d1041295.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Medications for the Treatment of Alcohol Dependence—Current State of Knowledge and Future Perspectives from a Public Health Perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Iga Stokłosa

    (Department and Clinic of Psychiatry, Medical University of Silesia, 42-612 Tarnowskie Góry, Poland)

  • Gniewko Więckiewicz

    (Department and Clinic of Psychiatry, Medical University of Silesia, 42-612 Tarnowskie Góry, Poland)

  • Maciej Stokłosa

    (Department and Clinic of Psychiatry, Medical University of Silesia, 42-612 Tarnowskie Góry, Poland)

  • Magdalena Piegza

    (Department and Clinic of Psychiatry, Medical University of Silesia, 42-612 Tarnowskie Góry, Poland)

  • Robert Pudlo

    (Department and Clinic of Psychiatry, Medical University of Silesia, 42-612 Tarnowskie Góry, Poland)

  • Piotr Gorczyca

    (Department and Clinic of Psychiatry, Medical University of Silesia, 42-612 Tarnowskie Góry, Poland)

Abstract

No single effective therapy for alcohol abuse has been found, despite it being a serious sociological and economic problem for hundreds of years. It seems difficult to find a single drug as a panacea for the alcohol problem due to the complexity of the pathophysiology of alcohol dependence. The purpose of this narrative review is to review existing and potentially future pharmaceuticals for the treatment of alcohol dependence in the most affordable way possible. Psychotherapy is the mainstay of treatment for alcoholism, while few drugs approved by legislators are available in the augmentation of this treatment, such as acamprosate, disulfiram, and naltrexone, approved by the FDA, and nalmefene by the EMA. There are recent reports in the literature on the possibility of using baclofen, topiramate, varenicline, and gabapentin in the treatment of alcohol dependence. Moreover, the results of recent clinical trials using psychoactive substances such as psilocybin and MDMA appear to be a breakthrough in the modern treatment of alcohol abuse. Despite this initial optimism, a lot of scientific effort is still needed before new pharmacological methods supporting the treatment of alcohol dependence syndrome will be widely available.

Suggested Citation

  • Iga Stokłosa & Gniewko Więckiewicz & Maciej Stokłosa & Magdalena Piegza & Robert Pudlo & Piotr Gorczyca, 2023. "Medications for the Treatment of Alcohol Dependence—Current State of Knowledge and Future Perspectives from a Public Health Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-9, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:3:p:1870-:d:1041295
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/3/1870/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/3/1870/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jakob Manthey & Syed Ahmed Hassan & Sinclair Carr & Carolin Kilian & Sören Kuitunen-Paul & Jürgen Rehm, 2021. "What are the Economic Costs to Society Attributable to Alcohol Use? A Systematic Review and Modelling Study," PharmacoEconomics, Springer, vol. 39(7), pages 809-822, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Shiwei Liu & Fulin Huang & Xiaolei Zhu & Suhua Zhou & Xiang Si & Yan Zhao & Yang Liu & Xiaochang Zhang & Sally Casswell, 2022. "China’s Changing Alcohol Market and Need for an Enhanced Policy Response: A Narrative Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-9, May.
    2. repec:thr:techub:10034:y:2022:i:1:p:472-482 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Adriana Solovei & Jakob Manthey & Peter Anderson & Liesbeth Mercken & Eva Jané Llopis & Guillermina Natera Rey & Augusto Pérez Gómez & Juliana Mejía Trujillo & Inés Bustamante & Marina Piazza & Alejan, 2022. "Costs of an Alcohol Measurement Intervention in Three Latin American Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(2), pages 1-19, January.
    4. Paula Stefania Frusinoiu & Cristian Silviu Banacu, 2022. "The consequences of illicit drug use. Estimation, methods and challenges," Technium Social Sciences Journal, Technium Science, vol. 34(1), pages 472-482, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:3:p:1870-:d:1041295. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.