Access to treatment for alcohol dependence (AD) in rural and remote areas is limited. This study evaluated the effectiveness of two pharmacotherapies for AD – naltrexone alone, and in combination with sertraline – among Alaska Natives (ANs) and other Alaskans living in rural settings. Findings indicate that naltrexone is just as effective on its own as it is in combination with sertraline.

An analysis of brain tissue samples from chronic alcoholics reveals changes that occur at the molecular level in alcohol abuse – and suggests a potential treatment target, according to researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

A study by the University of Minnesota School of Public Health and the University of Florida suggests that ‘tweens’ should receive alcohol prevention programs prior to sixth grade, when nearly one in six children are already alcohol users.

A researcher at the University at Buffalo's Research Institute on Addictions (RIA) is initiating a study of "mindfulness-based stress reduction," a technique often used in behavioral medicine for stress reduction but not before as an adjunct in the treatment of alcohol use disorders.

The negative consequences of alcohol use and abuse have a disproportionate impact on racial and ethnic minorities in the United States. New research findings indicate that racial disparities in treatment completion could be reduced by increasing enrollment in residential alcohol treatment for African American and Hispanic alcohol abusers.

Researchers at the University of Virginia have led a multisite clinical trial showing that the drug topiramate is significantly more efficacious than placebo at curbing alcohol dependence. Subjects had to be drinking heavily and were not abstinent when they started the trial.

Alcoholics can now do without detox treatment thanks to a migraine pill. The drug, Topamax, works in a different way than three other medications already approved for treating alcoholism.

Alcohol-dependent patients who received the medication topiramate had fewer heavy drinking days, fewer drinks per day and more days of continuous abstinence than those who received placebo, according to a study in the October 10 issue of JAMA.

The neurotransmitter dopamine is believed to influence the development and/or maintenance of alcoholism.

Binge drinking has traditionally been more common in Anglo-Saxon and northern European countries than Mediterranean countries.

Computerized craniofacial anthropometry can help identify patients with fetal alcohol syndrome

Naltrexone is one of four oral medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of alcoholism. A recent large multicenter research study of alcohol dependence supported by the National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse (NIAAA), the COMBINE Study, suggested that naltrexone produced a modest but significant benefit but another FDA-approved medication, acamprosate, was ineffective.