United States: An extreme case of alcoholism may be treated by a combination of an allergy drug and a blood pressure medicine, as it turns out, according to a scientific study conducted by French scientists.
Need for Improvement
As for the two drugs studied, an antihistamine cyproheptadine and prazosin, which is used in the treatment of high blood pressure and urinary urgency according to the team led by Henri-Jean Aubin of the Université Paris-Saclay in Villejuif, as reported by HealthDay.
This study group suggested how this two-drug combination may be effective with alcohol use disorders because cyproheptadine works on brain cell receptors linked to impulsive behaviors, while the other drug, prazosin, targets receptors associated with drug cravings.
In an American Psychiatric Association news release, Aubin remarked that existing medications for alcohol use disorder are “moderately to somewhat effective only,” and thus, any new treatment methods are welcomed.
The research was published in the Journal of Addiction a few days ago.
Study Details and Findings
The study involved 154 adult patients with genuine alcoholism. And that is doing not less than 60 grams of alcohol per day for men and a minimum of 40 grams for women (at least 3-4 standard drinks per day).
Participants were divided into three groups: Daily pill gving with placebo as a dummy, a high dose combo of prazosin plus cyproheptadine and a low dose combo of prazosin plus cyproheptadine for 12 weeks.
Everyone in the follow-up group was able to receive support that ranged from suggestions on compliance with drug therapy and alcohol abstinence.
The Aubin team included the goal of reducing alcohol intake as opposed to full abstention.
Individuals in the two-drug group did experience some reduction in the amount of alcohol they consumed compared to those who took the placebo. And, as dosage levels increased, so did the decline in alcohol consumption.
By way of instance, people on low-dose prazosin/cyproheptadine had an average 18.4-gram reduction of their daily alcohol intake (versus placebo), while those taking the high dose had an average 23.6-gram daily alcohol intake reduction.
Also, it was tried on people with alcohol use disorder drinking large amounts — more than 100 grams of alcohol (at least seven drinks) for men and 60 grams per day for women.
Promising Results and Further Research
In this group, there was self-cutting of daily intake by almost 30 grams of alcohol per day by taking high-dose Prazosin/Cyproheptadine, as reported by HealthDay.
Concerning the side effects, the medications were determined to be “well tolerated,” as the scientists said.
“The promising efficacy of the combination of prazosin and cyproheptadine warrants prolonging this work with phase 3 trials,” they concluded.