Despite being one of the most common addictions for people in America, it would be fair to say that humanity has never truly gotten to grips with alcoholism. Today, it is still extremely common to hear of people who were in otherwise promising professional positions to succumb to the dangers of alcoholism. The problem has, in the rise of opioid addiction and other drug addictions, been side-lined by other concerns within American and overall Western society. Indeed, it is estimated that some 15 million people in America have an alcohol disorder – every year, around 95,000 Americans die due to alcohol-related issues.

Treatment options are varied, but they have long been seen as in need of updating to further improve the likelihood of stopping someone going down the route of addiction. A new treatment option that has been initially tried out with monkeys, though, appears to be growing in popularity. A hormone known as FGF21 has shown promise in reducing alcohol consumption in monkeys.

Indeed, a peer-reviewed study that was released in Cell Metabolism appears to offer some very promising insight into what happens next. Alcohol consumption and dependency has become a key problem in America, and this new treatment could play a leading role in helping to offer a treatment solution that could be trusted.

Indeed, the research team found that giving monkeys with a taste for alcohol the hormone was able to reduce their alcohol intake by around 50%. This is seen as a huge step forward, and though hormonal treatments within substance abuse is a rather new approach, it appears to have both scientific and medical merit.

An important step in combatting alcohol addiction

Many forms of treatment within the substance abuse category revolve around making lifestyle changes. Trying to counsel someone to overcome their problems, though, can only go so far in some cases. Many times, it is near-impossible for someone to truly overcome how they feel with regards to their addiction purely through talking it out.

By having access to a hormone that quite literally helps them to stop craving alcohol, though, they get a helping hand. If the desire is halved, then the chance of finding a way out of the addiction is significantly improved. By overcoming that desire, at least some of it, it will be easier for those who feel like other treatment options are failing them to give it a second chance.

Therefore, so many people within the industry are excited about this hormonal treatment. If used properly, it could help to give those who are struggling to stick to more traditional treatment a helping hand. It could also play a significant role in making sure that those who find their alcohol addiction is out of hand can find a way to stem the flow.

Though not expect to be on the market soon, this hormonal treatment is providing some very interesting and illuminating results that may one day result in a robust alcohol addiction treatment.

Citation

https://news.yahoo.com/treatment-alcoholism-monkeys-could-help-164107184.html