Prof discovers new drug for alcoholism

Individuals suffering from alcoholism can thank Psychiatry Professor Joseph Volpicelli and his colleagues for discovering the first new medication to treat alcoholism in the last 50 years. Volpicelli found that naltrexone, a drug previously used to treat heroine and narcotics addiction, blocks the craving for alcohol. It suppresses the the "high" many experience while drinking liquor. Unlike its predecessor Antabuse -- a relatively ineffective drug that often makes an individual physically sick after alcohol consumption -- naltrexone inhibits the motivation to drink. But the new drug is not completely without side effects. Naltrexone has induced nausea in 10 percent of the patients who take it. The DuPont Merck Pharmaceutical Company announced yesterday that it would begin to sell naltrexone as a treatment for alcohol dependence. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the drug -- which will be sold on the market under the name "Revia," Volpicelli said. Volpicelli said the F.D.A. approval took six months, a decision that is "remarkably fast" in the medical world. He said he is very enthusiastic about naltrexone and its propensity to prevent relapse in alcoholics -- although he cautioned against using naltrexone as a cure-all. Naltrexone should only be administered in conjunction with counseling and therapy, Volpicelli said. Psychiatry Professor Charles O'Brien agreed. "None of these studies indicate this is a substitute for good psycho-social treatment -- 12 step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous," he told the Associated Press. But Volpicelli said the drug is revolutionary. "It's the most promising new agent for alcoholism in 40 or 50 years," he said. "It's not a magic bullet, though. "Many patients sort of slip and fall off the wagon," Volpicelli added. "It makes slips less severe so people can get back on the wagon." In researching the effects of naltrexone, Volpicelli and his colleagues conducted a 12-week study of 70 long-term alcoholic men. The study proved that only 23 percent of the subjects on the naltrexone relapsed -- compared to 54 percent of subjects on the placebo. Volpicelli said that he discovered the drug's effect on alcoholics 15 years ago as a graduate student at the University. His quest continued in 1981 when he began publishing his findings on the drug. In 1985, he began a study of naltrexone using patients at the Veteran's Administration Hospital. Volpicelli's findings prompted him inform representatives of Dupont Merck about the use of the drug as a treatment of alcoholism. The results of this study and another study done at the University were published in 1992, and Yale University embarked on a similar project which produced nearly identical results. Although the discovery is considered by many to be a breakthrough, Volpicelli said much more research needs to be done before a search for a cure for alcoholism is completed. Questions concerning how long the medication should be taken and other inquires into why people drink still remain unanswered, he said.