Skip Navigation



Alcohol and Alcoholism Advance Access published online on July 25, 2005
Alcohol and Alcoholism, doi:10.1093/alcalc/agh187
This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
40/6/545    most recent
agh187v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by DE SOUSA, A.
Right arrow Articles by DE SOUSA, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by DE SOUSA, A.
Right arrow Articles by DE SOUSA, A.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Medical Council on Alcohol. All rights reserved
Received March 11, 2005
Revised June 21, 2005
Accepted July 2, 2005

Article

AN OPEN RANDOMIZED STUDY COMPARING DISULFIRAM AND ACAMPROSATE IN THE TREATMENT OF ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE

AVINASH DE SOUSA 1* and ALAN DE SOUSA 1

1 Get Well Clinic And Nursing Home, 33rd Road, Off Linking Road, Bandra, Mumbai 400050, Maharashtra State, India

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
AVINASH DE SOUSA, E-mail: avinashdes999{at}yahoo.co.uk


  Abstract

Aims: To compare the efficacy of acamprosate (ACP) and disulfiram (DSF) for preventing alcoholic relapse in routine clinical practice. Methods: One hundred alcoholic men with family members who would encourage medication compliance and accompany them for follow-up were randomly allocated to 8 months of treatment with DSF or ACP. Weekly group psychotherapy was also available. The psychiatrist, patient, and family member were aware of the treatment prescribed. Alcohol consumption, craving, and adverse events were recorded weekly for 3 months and then fortnightly. Serum gamma glutamyl transferase was measured at the start and the end of the study. Results: At the end of the trial, 93 patients were still in contact. Relapse (the consumption of >5 drinks/40 g of alcohol) occurred at a mean of 123 days with DSF compared to 71 days with ACP (P = 0.0001). Eighty-eight per cent of patients on DSF remained abstinent compared to 46% with ACP (P = 0.0002). However, patients allocated to ACP had lower craving than those on DSF (P = 0.002). Conclusion: DSF is superior to ACP for preventing relapse in alcohol-dependent men with good family support. Further comparisons between these two drugs in different treatment settings and populations are warranted.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Alcohol AlcoholHome page
D. Neto, R. Lambaz, P. Aguiar, and J. Chick
Effectiveness of Sequential Combined Treatment in Comparison with Treatment as Usual in Preventing Relapse in Alcohol Dependence
Alcohol Alcohol., November 1, 2008; 43(6): 661 - 668.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Alcohol AlcoholHome page
E. Laaksonen, A. Koski-Jannes, M. Salaspuro, H. Ahtinen, and H. Alho
A randomized, multicentre, open-label, comparative trial of disulfiram, naltrexone and acamprosate in the treatment of alcohol dependence
Alcohol Alcohol., January 1, 2008; 43(1): 53 - 61.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Alcohol AlcoholHome page
D. Neto, R. Lambaz, and J. E. Tavares
Compliance with aftercare treatment, including disulfiram, and effect on outcome in alcohol-dependent patients
Alcohol Alcohol., November 1, 2007; 42(6): 604 - 609.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.