French drug helps fight alcoholism

Baclofen had a positive effect at high doses in reducing alcohol consumption — study

French researchers provided fresh evidence Friday to support claims that a drug touted as a miracle cure for alcoholism, and prescribed for this purpose in France, actually works.

The drug, baclofen, had “a positive effect” at high doses in reducing alcohol consumption over a year of treatment, according to study results released at a conference in Paris.

Developers reported on a drug trial named Bacloville, conducted among 320 heavy drinkers aged 18 to 65 between May 2012 and June 2013.

The trial compared the safety and efficacy of the drug given to some participants in high doses, to a “dummy” placebo pill given to others.

Neither the trial participants nor their monitors knew who was getting which pill. The patients were not asked to refrain from alcohol.

Fifty-seven per cent of those who got the real drug stopped drinking or drank less, compared to 37 per cent of those who got the dummy drug.

A second study, dubbed Alpadir, also reported Friday that people who received the medicine made bigger cuts in drinking compared to those given a placebo.

French health authorities gave provisional approval for use of baclofen, originally designed and widely used to treat muscle spasms, in 2014 for the treatment of alcoholism.

Many people in other countries are thought to use the drug without a prescription to fight alcoholism.