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[Marp]

This article caught my interest because I have family members with MS that take Baclofen in normal doses. Although they are light social drinkers they have both commented that they really no longer enjoy "having a beer" or glass of wine. Who would have thought there was a connection.

'Anti-alcoholism' drug clears key test hurdle

A drug designed to treat nervous spasms has cleared an important early test in a project to see whether it can also cure alcoholism, French doctors said on Tuesday.

Baclofen -- the lab name for a medication branded as Kemstro, Lioresal and Gablofen -- was successful in a preliminary test among a small group of alcoholics, a result that opens the way to formal clinical trials, they said.

The history of the drug goes back 50 years. It was originally designed for epilepsy before becoming licensed to treat spasticity, but researchers are now interested in using it to ease alcoholic craving.

Interest was sparked in 2008 by a book, Le Dernier Verre (The Last Glass), by cardiologist Olivier Ameisen, who self-treated his alcoholism with high doses of baclofen.

The new test entailed enrolling 132 heavy drinkers who were given baclofen at high doses over a year.

Eighty percent either became abstinent or became moderate drinkers. By comparison, two drugs that are commonly used to treat alcoholics, naltrexon and acamprosate, yield a success rate of 20-25 percent.

Article:
http://news.yahoo.com/anti-alcoholism-drug-clears-key-test-hurdle-152639243.html