Scientists: alcoholism can be treated with epilepsy medicine

American scientists conducted a study of the effects of the antiepileptic drug topiramate, which is one of the derivatives of fructose. It turned out to be incredibly effective in the treatment of alcoholism, in combination with psychotherapy.

The study, conducted by the University of Pennsylvania staff , recruited 138 volunteers, who were divided into 2 subgroups. All of them suffered from severe alcoholism. In the first subgroup, volunteers received 200 mg of topiramate daily for 3 months, while representatives of the control group received placebo.

After completing the course, it turned out that in the subgroup where topiramate was used, the likelihood of going into binge was 5 times lower than in those volunteers who were treated without topiramate. In addition, among those who took the drug, the number of cases of alcohol consumption before memory loss decreased by 2 times.

According to Professor Henry Kranzler , one of the leaders of the study, topiramate is an excellent alternative for people who do not want to completely give up alcohol, but simply reduce the intensity and frequency of drinking. It should be noted that topiramate is effective only in 40% of Americans and Europeans who have a certain set of genes that can be affected by it.

In addition, this drug has proven to be effective in bipolar disorder as an anti-manic agent. Scientists believe that it should help not only with alcoholism and epilepsy. At the moment, it is planned to investigate its properties with regard to the treatment of post-traumatic stress, overeating syndrome, neuropathy and headaches. The drug acts directly on neurons and its properties are far from being studied.

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