MIND OVER MATTER IN TREATING ALCOHOLISM

Is the threat of a disulfiram reaction more important than the pharmacological action itself? The implied threat of illness if a patient drank alcohol in combination with disulfiram ('Antabuse') resulted in 21 % of patients on regular disulfiram 250mg/day and 25 % of those on a pharmacologically inactive dose of Img/day remaining abstinent in a 1-year study of 128 male alcoholics. These results were not significantly different from the 12 % abstinence obtained with no disulflIam. The study suggested only a limited role for disulfiram in the treatment of alcoholism. It was shown that patients who took their medication regularly and who had obtained employment were most likely to remain abstinent. Fuller, R.K. and Roth, H.P.: Annals of Internal Medicine 90: 90 I (Jun 1979)

12 INPHARMA 21 July 1979 0156-2703/79/0721-0012 $00.50/0 © ADIS Press