A 'miracle' cure for alcoholism?

LONDON: Finally, a French doctor claims to have discovered a "miracle" cure for alcoholism.

According to Dr Olivier Ameisen, a cheap drug known as baclofen, which has long been known to cure muscle spasms, can ease and destroy an intolerable craving for alcohol in people who are addicted.

In fact, the drug is so effective that alcoholics can safely go back to social drinking without fear of renewed dependency, said Dr Ameisen whose findings are to appear in an upcoming book, titled 'Le Dernier Verre' (The Last Glass).
 
"Mine is the first case in which a course of medicine has completely suppressed alcohol addiction. Now I can have a glass and it has no effect. Above all, I no longer have that
irrepressible need to drink," he was quoted by leading British newspaper 'The Independent' as saying.

Another doctor who has successfully tested the drug is Dr Renaud de Beaurepaire of Paul-Guiraud hospital at Villejuif near Paris. "I prescribed it to two alcoholics who were at the end of the road. It was pretty miraculous."
 
Though Dr Ameisen has claimed that he broke his habit with the "miracle" drug, the medical establishment has doubts.

Xavier Laqueille, the Head of the St Anne hospital in Paris which treats addicts, said: "Alcoholism is a complex disease, in which both neuro-biological and psychosocial
factors are entwined."

Added Dr Michel Reynaud of the Paul-Brousse hospital in Paris: "Encouraging people to think there is a miracle molecule is to completely misunderstand the nature of
alcoholism and extremely irresponsible."