Factors Mediating Alcohol Craving and Relapse: Stress, Compulsivity, and Genetics

Neurobiology, Genetics and Treatment of Alcohol Craving

Neurobiology, genetics and treatment of alcohol craving Alcohol craving has increasingly been considered an important issue in alcohol use disorders in the last decade. Biologic studies on alcohol craving were mainly focused on neurobiology, genetics and pharmacological treatment of this condition. In this report, we started from receptor systems, than we explained genetics and epigenetics of a...

Amygdala volume associated with alcohol abuse relapse and craving.

OBJECTIVE Amygdala volume has been associated with drug craving in cocaine addicts, and amygdala volume reduction is observed in some alcohol-dependent subjects. This study sought an association in alcohol-dependent subjects between volumes of reward-related brain regions, alcohol craving, and the risk of relapse. METHOD Besides alcohol craving, the authors assessed amygdala, hippocampus, and...

Craving alcohol: Genetic and pharmacological factors

Medications and alcohol craving.

The use of medications as an adjunct to alcoholism treatment is based on the premise that craving and other manifestations of alcoholism are mediated by neurobiological mechanisms. Three of the four medications approved in the United States or Europe for treating alcoholism are reported to reduce craving; these include naltrexone (ReVia), acamprosate, and tiapride. The remaining medication, dis...

Stress enhancement of craving during sobriety: a risk for relapse.

This report of the proceedings of a symposium presented at the 2004 Research Society on Alcoholism Meeting provides evidence linking stress during sobriety to craving that increases the risk for relapse. The initial presentation by Rajita Sinha summarized clinical evidence for the hypothesis that there is an increased sensitivity to stress-induced craving in alcoholics. During early abstinence,...