Problem drinkers who took a craving-curbing drug whenever they felt the desire to imbibe reported fewer heavy drinking days each month than drinkers who took a look-alike placebo pill, but both groups reported marked reductions in heavy drinking days.
These findings come from a study of 403 heavy drinkers in Finland, who took either a placebo or the drug nalmefene on an "as needed basis."
The pill is manufactured by BioTie Therapies, a company based in Turku, and the study was conducted by physician and researcher Sakari Karhuvaara. (Disclaimer: "Karhuvaara is a physician and health researcher who was once an employee of Biotie Therapies Corp., the manufacturer of nalmefene. The drug maker supported the new study.")
Via Andrew Sullivan.
Considering the recent notoriety of Chinese fake medicine manufacture it might be useful to have the genuine pill manufactured in Finland and the placebo ( which seems to have some good effect) manufactured economically in China.
ReplyDeleteClearly we need more research on the placebo to make sure it doesn't have harmful side effects.
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