title: Pharmacological approach of the treatment of drinking problems: a critical overview.
abstract: Many pharmacological agents have been proposed for the treatment of drinking problems. However, there are many pitfalls in the assessment of the clinical interest of those drugs. In this paper, we propose a new classification of drugs of interest for treating alcohol abuse and related problems. We also review the major clinical studies about those pharmacological agents and discuss, through the studies about serotonergic agents, lithium salts, disulfiram and related compounds, some peculiar aspects of those trials that we think to be important to develop better strategies for the evaluation of pharmacotherapy of alcoholism.
authors.affiliation: Plinius Major Society for Study and Treatment of Alcoholism in Europe, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Verbanck
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Barrias
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Besson
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Borg
mesh_terms: D000427:Alcohol Deterrents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000188:drug therapy; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D000818:Animals; D001519:Behavior / Q000187:drug effects; D004361:Drug Tolerance; D006801:Humans; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology
chemical_list: D000427:Alcohol Deterrents