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Researchers Exploring Additional Benefits of Anti-Alcoholism Medication Naltrexone

By Hugh C. McBride

A drug that has been used for decades to treat opiate addictions and alcohol dependence has recently been discovered to be effective in easing a type of chronic pain and reducing a compulsion to steal.

Naltrexone, which was synthesized and patented in the early 1960s, is used in many alcohol rehab programs to help clients safely detoxify (rid their bodies of the drugs they had been abusing) and to lessen cravings that could lead to relapse. Since the mid-1980s, when it was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in alcohol rehab programs and addiction treatment programs, the drug has been used primarily with patients who are struggling to overcome addictions to heroin, opium, and alcohol.

Naltrexone is an essential component in alcohol rehab programs that feature “ultra rapid detox.” Ultra rapid detox is an accelerated detoxification process that is completed in less than 24 hours. Patients who undergo ultra rapid detox are placed under general anesthesia during the process.

However, in addition to naltrexone’s ability to reduce cravings of clients in alcohol rehab and to support those who undergo ultra rapid detox, two recent studies indicate that the drug may have additional applications outside alcohol treatment.  Naltrexone and Fibromyalgia

A small study that was conducted at Stanford University has led researchers to conclude that low doses of naltrexone may help ease symptoms of fibromyalgia, a condition marked by chronic pain, muscle soreness, tenderness, and fatigue.

The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), a division of the National Institutes of Health, reports that more than five million American adults are afflicted with fibromyalgia. Most fibromyalgia patients are middle-aged women, though neither men nor children are immune from the condition.

According to an April 17 article by WebMD Health News writer Miranda Hitti, the Stanford study involved 10 women who have suffered from fibromyalgia for an average of 10 years:

• First, the women spent two weeks recording the severity of their symptoms and taking tests to gauge their sensitivity to heat and cold.
• Next, the women took a placebo pill every day for two weeks (though they didn’t know the medication they were taking was a placebo). At the end of the placebo period, the women began taking a naltrexone pill once a day for eight weeks. Finally, they spent the last two weeks of the study taking neither placebo pills nor naltrexone.
• When they were taking the placebo, the women reported a 2.3 percent drop in the severity of their fibromyalgia symptoms.
• When they switched from the placebo to naltrexone, they reported an additional 30 percent drop in the severity of their symptoms.

In an article on the About.com website, fibromyalgia expert Adrienne Delwo has reported that low doses of naltrexone have also shown promise at reducing pain associated with multiple sclerosis and Crohn’s disease. When used as a component of an alcohol treatment program, naltrexone is typically prescribed in 50mg doses. When employed to reduce pain associated with fibromyalgia or other conditions, the dosage is usually less than 5mg.

Naltrexone and Kleptomania

Two weeks before the naltrexone-fibromyalgia study was published, researchers with the University of Minnesota announced that they believed that the drug could curb the urge to steal in individuals who had been diagnosed with the compulsion known as kleptomania.

According to an April 3 article on the ScienceDaily medical news website, highlights of the kleptomania research (which was conducted at the UM School of Medicine) include the following:

• Researchers with the Medical School's Department of Psychiatry conducted a double-blind study on 25 subjects (men and women between the ages of 17 and 75). Prior to entering treatment, the subjects reported having spent an average of at least one hour per week stealing.
• The researchers recruited individuals with kleptomania who were actively experiencing urges to steal, and treated them with either naltrexone or placebo.
• Those who took about 117mg of naltrexone per day reported a  significantly greater decline in stealing behavior than did those who were taking the placebo.

“[Naltrexone] gets rid of that rush and desire," Jon Grant, the study’s principal investigator, said in the ScienceDaily article. “The difference in their behavior was significant, and these people were really troubled by their behavior.”

Naltrexone and Alcoholism

Medical science has yet to discover any “magic bullet” that can erase drug addiction or a dependence upon alcohol. But as a component of a comprehensive alcohol rehab program (and when taken under the supervision of a qualified professional), naltrexone has been demonstrably effective.

By acting on the “pleasure receptors” in the brain of a person who is dependent upon alcohol, the drug reduces (but does not eliminate) cravings for alcohol. When employed in conjunction with other aspects of an effective alcohol rehab program, such as cognitive behavioral therapy and relapse prevention education, naltrexone can boost a person’s effort to achieve and maintain long-term sobriety.

For example, at southern California’s Sunrise Recovery Ranch, naltrexone and other approved and effective medications are part of a comprehensive residential recovery program for men who are pursuing long-term sobriety. As the Sunrise website reports, “these medications are strictly to be used as an enhancement to a thorough treatment curriculum that addresses the mind, body, and spirit of our clients.”

Naltrexone and other medications are also incorporated into the personalized treatment plans at The Rose of Newport Beach, a residential recovery program for women located in southern California. “Since The Rose is so dedicated to giving women their best chance at successful early sobriety,” the program’s website reports, “it follows that our staff has been educated in the use of medications that make detoxification more comfortable and that reduce cravings in early sobriety.”

LINKS
alcohol rehab programs (http://www.whitedeerrun.com/alcoholism_and_alcohol_rehab.asp)
ultra rapid detox (http://www.rapid-detox.org/what-is-rapid-detox.php)
residential recovery program for men (http://www.drugrehabranch.com/suboxone-buprenorphine-vivitrol-naltrexone.php)
residential recovery program for women (http://www.roserehab.com/suboxone-buprenorphine-vivitrol-naltrexone.php)