The End of Alcohol Addiction

The worldwide burden of alcoholism on affected individuals, their families, and society is enormous. People with alcohol use disorders tend to miss work, get into problems with the law, have financial difficulties, and alienate family and friends. Alcoholism also contributes to health problems such as heart disease, stroke, liver disease, brain damage, pancreatitis, and cancer as well as societal problems such as suicide, domestic violence, and accidents.

Some medications help some patients with alcohol addiction, but no drug treatment has been shown to be effective in ending alcohol addiction. One drug, however, has shown promise. Baclofen, which is given for the treatment of multiple sclerosis and other spinal cord diseases, has shown promising results in the treatment of alcoholism and alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

Baclofen was developed in the 1960s and marketed and sold for its role in relieving muscle spasms. Other uses for the drug were not actively pursued and, because baclofen is now inexpensive to produce and no longer protected by a patent, drug companies have limited interest in performing the rigorous and expensive research required to prove its use for the treatment of alcoholism.

In this book, you hear from internationally regarded doctors who have all prescribed baclofen for years for the treatment of alcohol addiction. They report on their experiences and views and discuss the results of studies on the use of baclofen to treat alcoholism. Whether you are a patient, family member, or doctor, this book will help you understand the history of baclofen's use, current research on its use to treat alcohol use disorders, and whether it might be a viable option for your life or practice.

Mathis Heydtmann is an experienced liver doctor (hepatologist) who has done research and worked in several countries in Europe and now works in the West of Scotland, where the rate of alcoholic liver disease is one of the highest in Europe.

Jonathan Chick, MD, MA, MBChB, MPhil, DSc, Consultant Psychiatrist; Medical Director, Castle Craig Hospital, Scotland; Visiting Professor, Edinburgh Napier University.

Renaud de Beaurepaire, MD, is a psychiatrist at Groupe Hospitalier Paul-Guiraud, Villejuif, France