Researchers give thumbs up to acamprosate

People who are trying to give up drinking sometimes take drugs to stop them relapsing. Researchers from the University of Munich have been looking into the effectiveness of one of these drugs - acamprosate. They reviewed 24 trials involving 6,915 alcoholics who were also receiving non-medical help. Acamprosate prevented relapse in one in every nine patients and increased the number of days patients spent not drinking by an average of three days a month. The risk of a patient on acamprosate returning to drinking was 86% of that of a patient who took a placebo instead. Diarrhoea was the only side effect which was frequently reported.

You can find out more about this research by clicking on the link in the title of this post.