Word: switches
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...business owner in the Midwest, who asked not to be identified by his real name, experienced his switch at a dinner party two years ago. Bob had battled alcohol dependency for several decades, regularly drinking at least 35 beers a week. Normally he would have downed several glasses of wine before dinner, he says, but that night, after taking baclofen for two weeks, he found himself sipping soda water instead, engrossed in conversation. "I realized I wasn't having that nagging feeling in my head, 'I should really get a drink,'" says Bob. "It never appeared during the dinner either...
...many other countries harm reduction is a widely accepted treatment model. In Europe and Canada, government-funded antiaddiction programs routinely help alcoholic patients reduce drinking, even if they won't quit; in Sweden, health officials suggest that cigarette smokers switch to snus (smokeless tobacco), which, unlike smoking, is not associated with lung cancer or cardiovascular disease. American proponents of moderation also argue that by demanding complete sobriety, it is possible that we are missing the chance to improve the health of smokers or problem drinkers who cannot or are not ready to stop entirely...
...dose of baclofen were able to reduce their smoking from 20.5 cigarettes a day to eight, a significant improvement over the placebo group, which was able to cut down to 12. And there was a distinct point at which the effect appeared to turn on - just like the switch discussed by alcoholics...
...That switch may apply to a variety of cravings, such as binge eating or even using heroin or cocaine, say researchers. Why? Because baclofen appears to intercept them at their roots: addiction is driven by the same brain system that motivates people to seek natural pleasures like food and sex. These rewarding experiences trigger the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine - the brain's "do it again" signal. Over time, addicts' brains become narrowly focused on drug-related pleasures and hypersensitive to cues associated with them, such as seeing an old drinking pal. Hanging out with that friend would prompt...
...taking baclofen for muscle spasms, reported that it also cut his cravings for crack), a recently published multisite trial of the drug in cocaine addicts did not produce significant results. "We think one of the reasons is the dose," says Franklin, noting that most alcoholics who have reported the switch tend not to experience it at less than 80 mg per day; the cocaine trial used...