Could binge drinking be curbed with a pill?
Welcome back. I'm Marcella Lee.
I'm Jesse Pagan in for Carlo Chichetto.
A medicine that's been around for decades
could help you cut down how much you drink
if you take it before your first sip.
CBS8's Kirsten Holmes takes a cr
look as more Americans are findg
out they may have started drinkg
too much during the pandemic.
If you ever woke up regretting the last
round of drinks from the night before,
you are not alone.
Hangovers can be treacherous an.
It only gets worse as you get o.
But if there was a medicine that
would help you stop drinking so much,
would you take it?
Doctors we talked to say the
real question is, should you?
A lot of people think the
alcohol is not a drug, and it i.
Joey Rubio is a drug and alcohol
counselor at the McAllister Institute,
a substance abuse treatment
program in Chula Vista.
He says alcohol abuse is typicay
tied to mental health issues.
Today, the courts mandate
you to go to a program,
They mandate you to go to,
you know, NAAA, if they would
have mandated me to go see,
get an evaluation.
For my therapist,
I would have probably addressed
my problem a long time ago.
Joey says He was never offered or prescribed
any medicine to curb his drinki.
He's sober now, but he says medicines
would have helped him had he had
access to them when he needed
it. And it was a real ugly,
you know, I went. I've been some
ugly places behind drugs, you k.
Dr. Barbara Mason is the directr
of the Alcohol Research Center t
the Scripps Research Institute.
She says there are three FDA approved
medications that can treat alcol
use disorder, The soul for RAM.
At camprosate and naltrexone,
it doesn't change the brain.
It's only effective while it's in the system,
and that's why it's important to
pair with a behavioral therapy.
So none of the currently FDA approved
medicines to treat alcohol use
disorder offer an ultimate cure.
And patients who take these
medicines often report nausea,
which doctors say can cause
some of their patients to stop
taking the medication altogethe.
But a new study in December of t
year reported that patients whok
naltrexone before they expectedo
drink eventually saw the nausea resolve
itself once they adjusted to the drug.
And users that stuck with
it reported less drinking.
Now doctors say they may have
found a new potential treatment
for alcohol abuse that removes
that side effect barrier in a dg
that already exists on the mark.
Dr. Mason says she studied Otez,
a drug normally used to treat psoriasis,
for alcohol use disorder.
You
know, for psoriasis, it takes uo
four months before you start seg
treatment effects for alcohol.
It acts right away. It acts to inhibit.
Specific type of molecule in the brain.
The results cut a patient's alcl
intake by more than half, and D.
Mason said another unwanted
side effect was adjusted.
Element of the molecule that
directs the nausea was removed.
We didn't have a single person
leaving the study because of any
gastrointestinal side effects. t
now Otesla, also known as a primolast,
is only FDA approved for
the treatment of psoriasis.
Getting FDA approval for a Tesla
to treat alcohol use disorder
will take a few more years.
Doctor Mason says
these findings are just
a couple of months old.
We really, they really need to e
replicated by large treatments.
Seeking samples all over the country,
Doctor Jim Dunford with the McAllister
Institute says the current drugs on the
market are under prescribed by doctors.
He's excited that the medicines
are now getting a second look.
But Doctor Dunford warns no pils
a cure all for alcohol use diso.
And he stresses medications
must be coupled with group or
individual behavioral therapy. e
are medicines to get you to
kind of reduce the craving.
There are groups that
provide the support in the.
Kind of the social and
ecosystem that you need to kind
of learn how to work within
Dr. Dunford is encouraged by whe
medicine is heading in the fight
against alcohol use disorder.
There are enough out there that
we're trying to encourage physicians,
primary care physicians particularly to.
Try these medicines on their pe,
but knowing that they're not
going to be the only solution.
Joey says he knows first hand how drugs
and alcohol can ruin a person's life,
and he's encouraged that
doctors are continuing to look
for new ways to offer hope.
It sounds like it's very promis,
you know, and it would help a lot of people.
Kirsten Holmes, CBS8.
Thanks Kirsten.
For help with substance abuse.
You can call the Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Services
Administration's National Helpl.
That number is 18 Hundred 662 H.
You can also reach out directly
to the McAllister Institute
by going to our website,
cbs8.com and clicking on this s.