Definition
Acamprosate, marketed under the brand name Campral, is an orally administered drug approved in the USA and throughout much of the world for treating alcohol dependence.
Pharmacological Properties
History
Alcohol-use disorders, as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fifth Edition (DSM-V; APA 2013), include both alcohol abuse and dependence. As such, alcohol-use disorders make up one of the most prevalent categories of substance use disorders in the USA, affecting almost 18 million Americans. One of the most challenging aspects of recovering from alcohol dependence is maintaining abstinence after acute withdrawal and avoiding subsequent relapse to drinking (Koob and Le Moal 2006). The goal of maintaining abstinence can be undermined by acute stressors like anger, loneliness, or hunger or by more chronic conditions such as cognitive impairment, polysubstance abuse, and mood and sleep disturbances. Supplementing counseling approaches with...
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References
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Mason, B.J., Heyser, C.J. (2014). Acamprosate. In: Stolerman, I., Price, L. (eds) Encyclopedia of Psychopharmacology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27772-6_163-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27772-6_163-2
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Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27772-6
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