Alcohol use disorder, the medical diagnosis for alcoholism, affects about 10 percent of the U.S. population, or 29.5 million people. Yet, doctors wanting to treat this condition have only a handful of medications at their disposal, including such drugs as disulfiram, Acamprosate and naltrexone.
Disulfiram makes people violently ill if they drink. Acamprosate is powerfully tranquilizing. And naltrexone suppresses the opioid system, which can reduce cravings in both alcoholics and opiate users. Still, doctors rarely prescribe these drugs, as only about 5 percent of patients in the U.S. take one of them.
They’re often seen as inferior to the life-changing psychosocial interventions (professional treatment and 12-step programs) normally recommended. But experts are now looking into the use of Ozempic as a form of medication in the treatment of addiction.
