Alcoholism is no new concept. According to Addiction Center, alcoholism affects about 18 million Americans. As an addiction, it’s second only to tobacco. But new strides are still being made to help people with alcoholism ditch the bottle.
An interesting new development for alcoholism was updated in August of this year. While rehabilitation, detoxification, individual therapy and support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous are still effective forms of treatment, doctors are seeking to design an extended-release tablet to help with alcohol addiction.
A new treatment – called gabapentin enacarbil, or HORIZANT – is being used in a study aimed at treating alcohol use disorder, or AUD. Gabapentin is already being prescribed to many people with epilepsy and pain conditions. So how exactly will this new drug affect your body?
Scientists at XenoPort, the biopharmaceutical company focused on commercializing HORIZANT in the U.S., explain why they designed the extended-release tablets: “(The drug can) address certain limitations of drug levels in the body, which may make it a more attractive treatment option for people with AUD.”
This new clinical trial is still in the works, but doctors hope this could soon be another way of fighting the disease, and the study is slated to be completed in February. Dr. George Koob, director of the National Institution on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism says, “...The development of new medications is an important component of our commitment to broaden the range of treatment options for people with AUD.”
Paige Brown is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
