Wine and other drinks

The last glass

The English translation is soon to be published of a best-selling book by Dr Olivier Ameisen that claims alcohol addiction can be cured by a cheap drug, Baclofen, known previously as a remedy for muscle spasm.

In his book Le Dernier Verre (The Last Glass), Dr Ameisen, a leading cardiologist, describes how he used a huge daily dose of the drug, 270 mg, to relieve his own craving for alcohol. Although he still takes Baclofen in reduced doses of 50 mg, Dr Ameisen, 55, says that he can now have the odd drink without it provoking a desire for many more.

The medical establishment in France and the UK still believes alcoholism has complex physical, mental and social components and that Baclofen, taken in such huge doses, can have dangerous side effects. However two other highly respected doctors are also convinced of its worth. Dr Renaud de Beaurepaire of the Paul-Guiraud Hospital at Villejuif near Paris successfully prescribed it to two long-term alcoholics. Dr Pascal Garche of the Geneva University Hospital gave 12 outpatients attending its alcoholism unit a course of Baclofen that produced in seven of them remarkable signs of recovery.

Baclofen

L'Agence française de securité sanitaire des produits de santé (Afssaps), the French equivalent of NICE in the UK, the agency which tests and approves drugs, is considering whether to organise clinical trials. Some early indications suggest that Baclofen might also be the basis of a cure for addiction to other drugs such as cocaine.

From our January 2009 e-newsletter