Active clinical trials for "Alcoholism"

This study will determine whether the experimental drug LY686017 can reduce a person's desire for alcohol. A brain chemical called Substance P acts at places in the brain called NK1 receptors. Substance P is released in response to stress and gives rise to behaviors that are thought to represent anxiety. LY686017 blocks Substance P from acting at the NK1 receptors. People between 21 and 65 years of age who have been drinking on a regular basis for at least one month before entering the study, who meet the criteria for alcohol dependence and who have an elevated score on a general test of anxiety may be eligible for this study. Participants are admitted to the NIH Clinical Center for 35 days. They participate in an alcohol treatment program in addition to the research study. After having been withdrawn from alcohol for at least 2 days, participants receive either 50 mg of LY686017 or placebo (an inactive substance that looks like the study drug) every morning for 28 days. In addition to drug treatment, they undergo the following procedures: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI): In the last week of the study, subjects undergo MRI to study the amount of blood going to brain structures thought to be involved in anxiety and craving. During the procedure, they look at pictures of faces exhibiting various emotions and pictures related to alcohol. Cue reactivity: At the beginning and towards the end of the study, subjects are asked to rate their alcohol craving and their anxiety level while they sniff and handle their favorite alcoholic beverage or water. Metyrapone test: During weeks 1 and 4 of the study, subjects are given metyrapone - a drug that interferes with the body's ability to make the stress hormone cortisol - to determine how LY686017 affects the body's hormonal response. The drop in cortisol from metyrapone administration causes the brain to release ACTH, a hormone that causes the adrenal gland to make cortisol. Trier test: In the last week of the study, subjects give a 5-minute speech to three people and are then asked to subtract numbers in their head. Then they are asked to rate their feelings and desire for alcohol on two rating scales. Blood is drawn from a saline lock at the beginning and end of the test to measure hormone levels. Rating scales: Subjects complete an Obsessive Drinking Scale weekly and an Alcohol Urge Questionnaire and Comprehensive Psychiatric Rating Scale twice a week. Blood tests: Blood samples are collected periodically to check blood chemistries, clotting time, and the amount of LY686017 in the blood.

The purpose of the study will be to evaluate the efficacy of mecamylamine in reducing alcohol consumption in smoking and non-smoking alcohol dependent patients. We hypothesize that mecamylamine will result in a greater reduction of alcohol consumption than placebo. We further hypothesize that mecamylamine will be effective in reducing both alcohol consumption and smoking in a subset of alcoholics who also smoke.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of naltrexone in combination with an SSRI to reduce alcohol consumption in alcoholic patients with comorbid PTSD and depression. We hypothesize that the combination of naltrexone and SSRI will exhibit a greater decrease in alcohol consumption than that seen with treatment with SSRI alone, or with a combination of another class of antidepressant and naltrexone. We also hypothesize that SSRI will be effective in treating PTSD and depressive symptoms and naltrexone will be well tolerated.

The purpose of this clinical research study is to learn whether subjects treated with aripiprazole are able to abstain from alcohol use for a greater number of days than subjects treated with placebo. The safety of using aripiprazole will also be studied.

Many cocaine dependent individuals are also dependent on alcohol. Such individuals respond poorly to existing treatments and have received little research attention in the past. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the combination of naltrexone and disulfiram is useful in decreasing alcohol use and cravings in people diagnosed with both cocaine and alcohol dependence.

The aim of this study is to test for improvements in treatment outcomes for primary care patients with at-risk drinking when cared for using telephone disease management (TDM) compared to those treated with usual care. Based on our pilot data, TDM for at-risk drinking may be a viable method for reducing alcohol consumption in this population. Hypotheses: The hypotheses for this research plan are: 1. A significantly greater proportion of patients assigned to TDM will obtain improvement in drinking outcomes compared to usual care. 2. TDM will lead to greater access to behavioral health care and higher intensity of treatment relative to usual care. This effect will be moderated by logistics such as transportation problems, physical functioning, and employment status. 3. More patients assigned to TDM will receive guideline adherent care.

The purpose of this study is to compare the efficacy of oral risperidone (Risperdal) to risperidone long-acting (Consta) in reducing alcohol use in persons diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.

This was a Phase 3, multi-center extension of Alkermes' Study ALK21-003EXT (NCT01218971) to further assess the long-term safety of repeat monthly doses of Medisorb® naltrexone (VIVITROL®).

The primary purpose of this study is to test the effectiveness of topiramate for the treatment of combined alcohol and cocaine dependence. Topiramate is approved for the treatment of seizures. It has not been proven to be effective for the treatment of alcohol or cocaine dependence.

Effective psychosocial interventions for individuals with an alcohol use disorder co-occurring with a severe mental health problem such as bipolar disorder are lacking. Treatment engagement, adherence, and retention are a major challenge and crucial to achieving a favorable outcome. The early phase of recovery is a key period during which an effective intervention exerts its most significant impact. Our proposed treatment intervention is aimed at addressing early recovery issues, engagement, and treatment and medication adherence in bipolar alcoholics. We propose to develop and refine a theoretically based and procedurally specified individual adherence therapy intervention for co-occurring alcohol use and bipolar disorder in early recovery, to develop standardized procedures, methods, and techniques so that treatment is delivered with a high degree of fidelity and competence, and to test the efficacy of this intervention through a randomized, parallel-group design comparing this new intervention with current regular clinical care.