Drug recommended to help cut drink dependence
1–10 of 16 posts
Re: Drug recommended to help cut drink dependence
#2I find that drinking alcohol reduces my urge to take Nalmefene
Re: Drug recommended to help cut drink dependence
#3The washington post had an article that basically said the 80/20 rule applied to drinkers (20% consmed 80% of alcohol).
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/09/25/t...
Based on this article (3 pints @ 5% is considered high volume consumption for men) then 30% of the drinking age population falls into that category. If you eliminate non drinkers (less than 1 a week) then it's like 3/5th of drinkers.
Re: Drug recommended to help cut drink dependence
#4It might be worth noting that there are other similar drugs already in widespread use for the same purpose.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naltrexone
The submitted article doesn't seem to touch on what differentiates nalmefene from naltrexone, but the dubiously cited Wikipedia article for nalmefene mentions that advantages "include longer half-life, greater oral bioavailability and no observed dose-dependent liver toxicity." Both are recommended for use in conjunction with psychosocial support techniques.
Re: Drug recommended to help cut drink dependence
#5It might be worth noting that there are other similar drugs already in widespread use for the same purpose. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naltrexone The submitted article doesn't seem to touch on what differentiates nalmefene from naltrexone, but the dubiously cited Wikipedia article for nalmefene mentions that advantages "include longer half-life, greater oral bioavailability and no observed dose-dependent liver tox…
The article was disappointingly short of a few bits of information. It didn't describe the class of drug (opioid receptor blocker), give examples of similar drugs or even give a pointer to more complete information.
Yeah, I know, I could look it up (and I will), but even in a brief announcement, I don't think a little more information is too much to ask for.
Naltrexone has shown benefit for alcohol dependence, and other addictive behaviors too. Probably too obvious to say, but no drug is a "magic bullet" and risk of side-effects remains an important consideration. For naltrexone, a particular concern is liver toxicity with higher doses.
The newer drug may be different, but a drug's bad effects may show up only after prolonged use. Registration trials may not be go on long enough, or involve enough subjects to reveal long-term or rare problems.
Re: Drug recommended to help cut drink dependence
#6The WHO defines 3 drinks/day for men and 2 for women as "high intake." Meanwhile among those who recommend daily alcohol intake for health, the typical recommendation is 2 drinks/day for men and 1 for women - a difference of 1 drink.
Does anyone have any insight on this small apparent difference between "healthy person" and "drunkard"?
Re: Drug recommended to help cut drink dependence
#7The washington post had an article that basically said the 80/20 rule applied to drinkers (20% consmed 80% of alcohol). http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/09/25/t... Based on this article (3 pints @ 5% is considered high volume consumption for men) then 30% of the drinking age population falls into that category. If you eliminate non drinkers (less than 1 a week) then it's like 3/5th of drinkers.
3 pints a day of any high carbohydrate beverage is probably a bad idea. No alcohol required.
Re: Drug recommended to help cut drink dependence
#8The WHO defines 3 drinks/day for men and 2 for women as "high intake." Meanwhile among those who recommend daily alcohol intake for health, the typical recommendation is 2 drinks/day for men and 1 for women - a difference of 1 drink. Does anyone have any insight on this small apparent difference between "healthy person" and "drunkard"?
One impacts your lifestyle in a negative way and the other does not.
Someone can be consuming an unhealthy amount of alcohol by the WHO's standards which will cause things like weight gain and shorter lifespan, without being a alcoholic.
However conversely someone could drink, on average, below the recommended daily amount but have short periods of dangerously heavy drinking and thus be defined as an alcoholic over the longer term (e.g. some people with unmedicated bipolar disorders).
As I said at the start it really depends how much drinking impacts your life. If it doesn't in a negative way then you likely aren't an alcoholic (but yet still might want to look at your weight and fitness due to overconsumption).
Re: Drug recommended to help cut drink dependence
#9The WHO defines 3 drinks/day for men and 2 for women as "high intake." Meanwhile among those who recommend daily alcohol intake for health, the typical recommendation is 2 drinks/day for men and 1 for women - a difference of 1 drink. Does anyone have any insight on this small apparent difference between "healthy person" and "drunkard"?
[deleted]
Re: Drug recommended to help cut drink dependence
#10The WHO defines 3 drinks/day for men and 2 for women as "high intake." Meanwhile among those who recommend daily alcohol intake for health, the typical recommendation is 2 drinks/day for men and 1 for women - a difference of 1 drink. Does anyone have any insight on this small apparent difference between "healthy person" and "drunkard"?
One impacts your lifestyle in a negative way and the other does not. Someone can be consuming an unhealthy amount of alcohol by the WHO's standards which will cause things like weight gain and shorter lifespan, without being a alcoholic. However conversely someone could drink, on average, below the recommended daily amount but have short periods of dangerously heavy drinking and thus be defined as an alcoholic over t…
I wasn't really asking a question about my health. I was more interested the methodological differences that result in very similar numbers of drinks per day (2 vs 3) being considered healthy (not just acceptable but desirable) or dangerously high, respectively.