Active clinical trials for "Alcoholism"

The purpose of this study is to examine if educational intervention in high risk patients can lead to decreased hospital readmissions when compared to patients who are not in the intervention program. Additionally, to determine patient satisfaction with the educational program.

Alcoholism is the third leading cause of preventable death in the US, accounting for 80,000 deaths annually. Almost 18 million US adults have alcohol use disorder (AUD); however, approved medications for the treatment of AUD has shown limited effectiveness. Zonisamide (ZON), a broad spectrum anticonvulsant, has proven to be more effective than a placebo in reducing alcohol intake in individuals with alcohol dependence. ZON's mechanism of action seems to be quite distinct from currently approved anti-alcoholism medications, which holds promise for treatment of individuals who are not responsive to conventional medications. However, much remains unknown about ZON's therapeutic mechanisms and ZON's efficacy in treating patients with a diagnosis of AUD. To fill in these gaps, the investigators will conduct a double-blind randomized controlled study that assesses ZON's treatment mechanisms and effectiveness in reducing alcohol consumption in patients with AUD. Participants will be randomized to one of two conditions: 1) treatment with ZON and a computerized psychotherapy platform called Take Control (TC); 2) treatment with a placebo (PLC) and TC. To understand the neurobiology behind ZON's potential therapeutic effects on AUD, fMRI will be used to compare the brain activity of the ZON+TC versus PLC+TC group while participants perform an alcohol and emotional-word Stroop task, as well as an alcohol related cues task.

Alcohol use is almost ubiquitous on college campuses and first-year students are at particularly high risk of alcohol-related harm when they first make the transition to college. Peers are important agents in socializing both healthy and unhealthy behaviors, but despite the clear role of peer behavior in the maintenance of college problem drinking, there have been no efforts to measure the effect of individual change on the reduction of alcohol-related risks in the broader student body. That is, despite the importance of social connections for inducing and maintaining alcohol use in youth, intervention approaches have not measured nor capitalized on the potential of social influences for changing this problem behavior. It is essential that we understand the indirect effects of individual interventions and the impact such interventions have on the social structure and social connections. The best way to evaluate such effects is to use a research design that experimentally manipulates drinking using the best available intervention and measures its effects on the social network and its members. The purpose of this research is to investigate whether using an established individual Brief Motivational Intervention (BMI) administered to a small number of influential network members embedded in a social network significantly reduces heavy drinking and alcohol consequences among close peers who do not receive any intervention. In addition, the investigators will investigate social influence mechanisms of this transmitted effect, investigate how specific types of network connections and relationships moderate the indirect intervention effect, and investigate the effects of the intervention on network position and structure. First-year students at Brown will be enrolled and assessed early in their fall 2016 academic semester. Heavy drinkers in each dormitory who are in the top quartile of betweenness centrality, a social network construct that reflects high connectivity and potential influence, will either receive BMI or serve as controls, according to their dormitory's intervention assignment. All participants will be assessed again 5 and 12 months after baseline to measure changes in behavior and in peer ties. The long-term objective of this research is to understand how peer influences function in social networks in order to leverage those mechanisms to reduce problematic alcohol use in heavy drinking populations.

The goal of the AIM Study is to examine the effectiveness of Mindfulness Based Relapse Prevention (MBRP) versus Relapse Prevention (RP) for the treatment of Alcohol Use Disorders (AUD) by implementing an 8-week long intervention and examining neurobiological, immunological, and epigenetic characteristics of AUD.

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) impacts millions of Americans and is associated with significant behavioral, social, economic, medical, and neurobiological dysfunction, yet current behavioral treatments for AUD are only modestly effective. The proposed research will test the efficacy of a novel behavioral intervention, which combines brain stimulation with mindfulness-based relapse prevention, and is hypothesized to improve neural dysfunction and ultimately lead to large effect size reductions in heavy drinking among individuals with AUD. Given that mindfulness and brain stimulation are already available for "home use" there is great potential for the ultimate dissemination of the intervention on a large scale, which could have a significant impact on public health.

This project represents a first step in examining the potential use of fish oil for the treatment of alcohol use disorder (AUD). The investigators will be testing for attenuation of alcohol-induced sedative and stimulant effects, as well as cognitive effects and cerebellar effects in healthy social drinkers.

This experimental research studies the efficacy of two different treatments for inhibitory control improvement in alcohol-dependent individuals, one consisting of Retrieval-Extinction Learning ( alcohol AAT Task) and the other consisting in rTMS of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.

The purpose of this research is to examine the effects of long-term aerobic exercise of moderate intensity on psychological, physiological, biochemical, physiological and alcohol-related parameters in heavy drinkers, in order to investigate possible biochemical mechanisms by which exercise may be a healthy alternative to alcohol abuse.

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a communication style demonstrated to decrease drug and alcohol use. A five session MI intervention (BSF) was implemented in the Swedish correctional system. The intervention was delivered by counsellors with workshop only MI training (BSF) or by counsellors with workshop MI training followed by peer group supervision based on audio taped feedback (BSF+). Aim was to examine whether BSF in prisons reduces drug and alcohol use more effectively than interviews conducted according to the usual planning interview routine (UPI).

Objective: To evaluate GSK561679, an orally available, brain penetrant selective CRH1 antagonist for its ability to reduce alcohol craving in recently detoxified alcohol dependent women in response to stress or alcohol-associated stimuli. Study population: Up to 60 anxious, alcohol dependent women, aged 21-65 years will be enrolled to complete the study in 50 patients. Background: Anxiety, irritability, anger, and depression can all cause stress that may lead to continued drinking in heavy drinkers. One way the brain responds to stress is through a protein on brain cells called a CRH receptor. Previous research has shown that the CRH receptor is involved in negative emotional states and that chronic alcohol consumption increases the activity of CRH receptors in the brain. Medications that block CRH receptors can decrease stress-triggered alcohol consumption. GSK561679, an experimental drug that blocks the CRH receptors, can reduce negative emotions such as anxiety and a person s desire for alcohol. By looking at the brain s response to stress and the study drug using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans, researchers hope to learn whether GSK561679 can be an effective treatment for stress-related alcohol abuse. Objectives: - To evaluate the usefulness of GSK561679 in reducing stress-related alcohol craving in alcohol-dependent women. Design: Participants in the study will be enrolled in the standard NIH treatment program for alcohol dependence, and will be required to stay at the NIH inpatient treatment unit for an additional 31 days. Participants will receive either the study medication or a placebo to be taken once a day in the evening for 4 weeks. Participants will have the following procedures while on the study medication: Questionnaires about alcohol craving, depression, and anxiety. Recordings and responses to personal emotional reactions to stressful, nonstressful, and alcohol-related situations, with blood samples taken during the responses. Regular blood tests to measure stress hormones in the blood. Speech preparation and presentation (Trier test), along with blood samples, to measure stress hormones in the blood. Sessions to measure responses to alcohol-related cues. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans. Participants will return for follow-up visits 1 week and 1 month after stopping the study drug and being discharged from the study.