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Bridget M. Kuehn

JAMA. 2007;298(21):2467-2468.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

As evidence grows to support the combined use of medication and psychosocial intervention to help individuals with alcohol dependence, treatment of alcohol use disorders is increasingly shifting to the primary care office setting.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved 3 medications for the treatment of alcohol dependence: disulfiram, acamprosate, and naltrexone (the latter in both daily oral and monthly injectable formulations). The availability of these drugs, along with mounting evidence of their effectiveness when coupled with brief behavioral interventions, is making office-based care more feasible.

Medications coupled with brief behavioral interventions are facilitating office-based treatment of alcohol dependence. (Photo credit: David Cannings-Bushell/iStockphoto.com)

"Our thinking about treatment is evolving," said Mark Willenbring, MD, director of the Division of Treatment and Recovery Research at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). He explained that alcohol treatment is moving from almost exclusively specialist . . . [Full Text of this Article]

TARGETING MEDICATIONS