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document
Acamprosate appears to decrease alcohol intake in weaned alcoholics . Five hundred and sixty-nine alcoholics were included in a double-blind placebo-controlled randomized multicenter study of the effects of Acamprosate ( calcium acetylhomotaurinate ( CA ) , 1.3 g/day ) on indicators of alcoholic relapse after withdrawal . One hundred and eighty-one patients in the CA group versus 175 in the placebo group completed the three-month study . The major efficacy criterion was plasma gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase ( GGT ) , as an indicator of recent alcohol ingestion . This analysis was completed by criteria concordance analysis on a number of indicators of alcohol intake . Patients in both groups were similar initially . After 3 months of treatment , the patients in the CA group had significantly lower GGT ( 1.4 +/- 1.56 versus 2.0 +/- 3.19 times normal , P = 0.016 ) . All significant differences ( P less than 0.05 ) or trends ( 0.10 greater than P greater than 0.05 ) were in favor of a superior effect of CA over placebo . The major side-effect of CA was diarrhea ( present in 13 % of CA patients versus 7 % of placebo , P = 0.04 ) . CA proved superior to placebo on the evolution of markers of alcohol ingestion at three months , in this large-scale multicenter study . It could be a new modality in the drug therapy of alcoholism , not involving an antabuse effect , an antidepressant action , or conditioning .
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Intervention_Pharmacological
Acamprosate
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Intervention_Control
placebo-controlled
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Intervention_Pharmacological
Acamprosate
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Intervention_Pharmacological
calcium acetylhomotaurinate ( CA )
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Intervention_Pharmacological
CA
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Intervention_Control
placebo
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Intervention_Pharmacological
CA
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Intervention_Pharmacological
CA
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Intervention_Control
placebo
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Intervention_Pharmacological
CA
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Intervention_Control
placebo
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Intervention_Pharmacological
CA
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Intervention_Control
placebo
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Outcome_Mental
decrease alcohol intake
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Outcome_Physical
lower GGT
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Outcome_Adverse-effects
diarrhea
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Participant_Condition
alcoholics
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Participant_Sample-size
Five hundred and sixty-nine
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Participant_Condition
alcoholics
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Participant_Sample-size
One hundred and eighty-one
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Participant_Sample-size
175
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Participant_Condition
placebo group