How to Stop Drinking Alcohol

For the over 25 million Americans who suffer from substance and alcohol abuse there may be help in the form of an old pill. I recently read an article about baclofenin in GQ.

“One day a friend sent him a New York Times clipping about a paraplegic drug addict who, after being prescribed baclofen for acute muscle spasms, reported that the medication also seemed to reduce his cravings for cocaine, alcohol, and nicotine. That a medication might work by reducing craving—not by blocking a high—was a new idea. Between binges, Ameisen immersed himself in the National Institutes of Health’s vast online archive. Baclofen’s primary indication was for muscle spasms, but as far back as 1976 a study had mentioned in passing that it might be useful in treating alcoholism.”

Ameisen has recently released a book about his experience with baclofen.

“WOW! . . . This is a wonderful book . . . Ameisen may be responsible for making a signal discovery much like, but better than, that of George Cotzias, [the first to show that L-dopa could alleviate Parkinson’s disease,] in that so many more patients may be involved.”—Jerome B. Posner, M.D., George C. Cotzias Chair of Neuro-oncology, Department of Neurology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

The book can be purchased here.