Pharmacotherapy for alcohol use disorders

Pharmacotherapies for Alcohol-Use Disorders and Their Hypothesized Biological Action... 

With the exception of disulfiram, pharmacotherapies for alcohol-use disorders have been developed only in recent years, and therefore we have relatively little outcome... 

In summary, the research on pharmacotherapy for alcohol-use disorders is still in its very early stages. We already have increased our knowledge on this topic considerably, however, and have learned that the questions are complex. Future research needs not only to identifo promising medications but also to determine what characterizes individuals who benefit most from different medications (notice the similarity of this conclusion to the concept of matching patients to treatment). In addition, because alcohol affects multiple neurotransmitters, it may be that simultaneous use of more than one medication is needed to help some people. Research on this possibility is just beginning. 

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