Active clinical trials for "Alcoholism"

The aim of this study is to assess the efficacy of varenicline compared to placebo in tobacco dependent individuals who are undergoing concurrent treatment for alcohol dependence. As they will be inpatients and under 24 hour medical care for the first 21 days of treatment, or receiving outpatient treatment through the Alcohol Research and Treatment Clinic, this will allow for a comprehensive assessment of the safety of varenicline in this population with minimal risk of adverse consequences. The patients will continue their cessation treatment for an additional 10 weeks as outpatients through the Nicotine Dependence Clinic at CAMH. They will also be contacted at 6 months for follow-up.

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.

Alcohol dependence is a significant and prevalent public health problem affecting approximately 4% of the U.S. adult population. Individuals with alcohol dependence actively seek treatment annually, and long-term alcohol abstinence varies from 40-60%. Because of the high smoking prevalence and trends toward heavier smoking, alcoholic smokers are at high risk for both morbidity and mortality related to alcohol consumption and tobacco dependence. Although several studies have evaluated pharmacotherapy for tobacco dependence in recovering alcoholic smokers, few have evaluated pharmacotherapy for tobacco dependence among currently drinking alcoholic smokers. Varenicline is the most effective medication currently available for treating tobacco dependence. While some randomized trials have included recovering alcoholics, active alcoholism has been an exclusion criteria for these trials. Thus, this proposal would be the first such clinical trial in currently drinking alcoholic smokers. In addition to helping smokers to stop smoking, varenicline has also been shown to reduce alcohol consumption in rats. The goal of this proposal is to explore the potential efficacy of varenicline for treating tobacco dependence and reducing drinking among alcohol dependent smokers. The investigators hypothesize that 12 weeks of treatment with varenicline, a partial nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist will be more effective than placebo in treating tobacco dependence and reducing nicotine withdrawal symptoms in currently drinking alcoholic smokers. The investigators will also explore whether varenicline has an effect on drinking behavior among currently drinking alcoholics. The investigators propose the following specific aims to test these hypotheses in 70 currently drinking alcoholic smokers recruited at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Alcohol dependency is the most frequent addiction leading to a massive burden of both, patients health, and economy. Present therapeutic concepts suffer from limited efficacy, and thus new innovative therapies are needed. Neuroscientific studies have shown that prefrontal function in alcohol-dependent patients is impaired, leading to cognitive disturbances, and continuation of dependent behaviour. The results of pilot studies demonstrate that activation of prefrontal cortices via non-invasive brain stimulation improves cognitive performance in healthy subjects, and diminishes dependency-related behaviour in patients. The investigators aim to develop a stimulation protocol suited to induce a clinically relevant improvement of prefrontal functions in patients suffering from alcohol dependency. Therefore, the investigators will develop stimulation protocols which are able to modulate prefrontal activation for a much longer time course than those currently available, and will explore if the induced physiological alterations translate to respective cognitive improvements and reduction of addictive behaviour.

The investigators propose to use obstetric-gynecological clinics to conduct a randomized clinical trial that would compare two SBIRTS (Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral and Treatment), delivered either by a trained nurse or by computer, to usual care (a control condition). As part of this trial, the investigators will include outcomes that allow us to assess the cost effectiveness of these three conditions.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether varenicline is effective in the treatment of alcohol dependence in smokers.

The purpose of this study is to determine the pharmacokinetics, safety, and tolerability of RDC-0313 following oral administration.

This study would like to test whether the combination of ondansetron and naltrexone will be superior to either medication alone or placebo in the treatment of alcohol dependence.

We propose to conduct an inpatient pilot study to test the safety and potential efficacy of topiramate and naltrexone in combination for the treatment of alcoholism.