New pill designed to help alcoholics quit the habit

Alcoholism can be a terrible thing to go through. Like any form of addiction it can be hard to quit and to stay on the straight and narrow.

Scientists have developed a new pill that may help former alcoholics stay on the bandwagon and help people currently suffering with the disease to stay in control.

The Irish Independent reports that this new drug, revealed by scientists at a conference, works by blocking the parts of the brain that give alcoholics enjoyment from alcohol. If you stop deriving pleasure from drinking, it becomes much easier to fight the urge to drink too much.

According to the scientists, the drug can be taken before a night out when former alcoholics, or those in the process of recovery, could be tempted to have a few pints.

Studies undertaken by the creators of the drug found that alcoholics taking the drug and attending counselling sessions managed to half the amount they drank per day, and binged on fewer days.

These new findings were presented at the European Psychiatric Association congress in Prague, and doctors and scientists alike are hopeful that the drug could provide help to those who desperately want to recover from alcoholism.

This is the first drug that is aimed at the reducing the amount of alcohol consumed, rather than attempting to make alcoholics go ‘cold-turkey.’ At present the drug is not yet licenced and is still going through clinical trials.

“The people volunteering for these trials had real problems with alcohol dependence, most had never sought help before, and others had tried and failed with abstinence strategies – stopping drinking for good,” said Dr David Collier from The London School of Medicine.

“Abstinence is the right option for many people, but not everyone wants to do that, and in those that do try, it helps only about half of them,” he added.

Dr Collier went on to explain that reducing alcohol consumption to safe levels can act as a “realistic” and “practical” treatment goal for people who are dependent on alcohol, rather than shocking their systems into cold-turkey mode.

He said that the trial results suggested a combination of medication and counselling could offer a new option for people who are not currently being treated for their dependence on alcohol.

Alcoholism can be a tough thing to beat and one of the things that makes it so hard is the lack of other options available to sufferers. Maybe when this new drug is rolled out, it will help thousands of people to finally kick the habit for once and for all.