Alcoholism Medications and How They Work

Alcoholism Medications and How They Work

It’s estimated that at least one in five American adults suffer from Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), which accounts for some 95,000 deaths per year.
Although quite a few treatment options for alcoholism are available, most programs revolve around the 12-step Alcoholics Anonymous model.
Despite there being three FDA-approved treatment options for alcohol use disorder (and several more with good support in the medical literature), just a fraction of people with problematic drinking are offered the assistance of evidence-based medication assistance.

This lecture discusses the medications that are approved for the treatment of alcohol use disorder.


KEY POINTS:
00:26 – The stats on Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) in the U.S. are alarming, particularly given the lack of reliable, comprehensive treatment options.
02:10 – The dominant treatment model today emphasizes behavioral and emotional issues while minimizing some of the brain-related reward system and other predispositions that can impact the course of the illness.
04:42 – Most psycho-social modalities approach AUD as a matter of self-medication – a crutch or way to escape emotional stress or tension.
05:13 – While 12-step-based treatments are often the go-to for the treatment of Alcohol Use Disorder, some of the biological and neurological aspects of AUD often merit closer examination.
07:40 – There are effective FDA-approved options available to increase the overall success of AUD treatment, but to date only between 4% and 9% of sufferers have been prescribed medication.
08:15 – There are at least five medications on the market today, about which more information can be found here.
10:11 – An introduction to the three first-line FDA-approved treatments:
23:47 – Anti-depressants are not recommended as a first-line response/treatment for AUD.
24:41 – Ultimately there is no single path to recovery and for many the optimal treatment for AUD will involve some combination of psycho-social therapy and complementary medication.

QUOTABLE:
“It’s tragic on many levels – not the least of which the tolls taken on children living with parents who have Alcohol Use Disorder and all the illnesses and traumas that can entail.”

“The reflex is to ascribe treatment failure to failures of the patient and not to failure of the program or our inability to understand the causes of the condition.

“If we accept the idea that Alcohol Use Disorder is multi-faceted then we should be looking at multi-faceted, multi-modal treatment.”

“Most alcohol use treatment today still revolves around concepts that were developed in the 1930s.”

“Not a whole lot of people with alcohol use disorders are given the benefit of medication treatments.”

“Alcohol use disorder is multi-faceted and treatment should be mutli-faceted.”

“Medications are never to be used as a mono-therapy almost for anything but especially for something as complicated and multi-faceted as Alcohol Use Disorder.”

“We shouldn’t discourage people from exploring medications when they’re indicated.”

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