Treatment of Alcohol Dependence With Medications

451 In recent years, the development of new medications to treat alcohol dependence, representing the combined efforts of neuroscientists and clinical researchers, has begun a new era in alcoholism treatment. Until 1995, the only medical treatment approved for use in the United States (disulfiram) simply provoked intense physical symptoms such as vomiting upon the ingestion of alcohol. In contrast, newer drugs for alcoholism treatment operate at the molecular level of the brain processes that promote and maintain addiction. The targeted actions of these newer drugs offer the possibility of more effective treatment options for the millions of alcoholdependent persons in our Nation.