title: How effective is the standard dose of disulfiram? A review of the alcohol-disulfiram reaction in practice.
abstract: The current maximum recommended dose of disulfiram, 200 mg daily, is often inadequate. Of 63 patients taking disulfiram under supervision who either risked drinking alcohol or who had a medically supervised challenge with alcohol, only half produced a significant response on a dose of 200-300 mg daily. Some patients need as much as 1.5 g daily but even at high dosage significant side effects are uncommon, reversible and rarely serious. A modification to the recommended technique for a medically supervised alcohol challenge is described, which minimises distress.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D004221:Disulfiram / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D000431:Ethanol; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol; D004221:Disulfiram