Alcoholism and drug addiction / [Menley & James Limited].

  • Menley & James.
Date:
1940?]
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Alcoholism and drug addiction / [Menley & James Limited]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    alcoholism with or without psychoses should be limited to patients in institu- tions.* In this way any dangers of addiction to ‘ Benzedrine’ itself and of harm from unpredictable untoward effects can be adequately safeguarded. Treatment of Chronic Alcoholism with Amphetamine (Benzedrine) Sulfate New Eng. jour. Meds, 220-129, Jan. 26, 1939 The author gives full details of 21 cases of chronic alcoholism treated with ‘ Benzedrine’ Tablets. The use of this drug was instituted because the author had noted the lift produced by it was extremely effective in relieving ‘hang-over’ on the morning following excessive indulgence in alcohol, and because, taken beforehand, amphetamine sulphate appeared to increase the ability to consume alcohol without intoxication. An additional basis for this study was the fact that the tablets had been used successfully to arouse patients from drug comas due to the barbiturates and the opiates. Twenty-one ambulatory alcoholic patients were instructed to take 20 mg. of amphetamine sulphate daily, 10 mg. on arising and 10mg. at noon. This dosage was increased in several cases and decreased in one. Several patients were told to take an additional 10 mg. in the late afternoon whenever they expected to be out in the evening at a place where drinking would be going on. Patients were not asked to avoid parties or to modify their usual way of living. An attempt was made to avoid all formal psychotherapy. Insomnia occurred infrequently; and was transient. There was no marked loss in weight, no increased nervousness, no loss of appetite, no rise in blood-pressure, nor any other disturbing effect from the medication. The author states :— “There has been no evidence whatsoever of addiction or habit formation. Several patients spontaneously suggested omitting the tablets, and a few actually did so without being told. None have given any sign, consciously or unconsciously, of a need to continue the drug, such as would be present if a habit had been formed or a true addiction had occurred.” Of the 21 cases treated, 8 had, at the date of this report, completely abstained from alcohol since beginning treatment. These periods of abstinence varied from two weeks to thirteen months, and were more than four months in 6 cases. In an additional 6 cases of the series, results could be considered successful in that the drinking habits of the patients were so modified that they were able to resume their places in the family and in business, even though they suffered one or two relapses from total abstinence. In only 4 cases was there total failure, and even in 3 of these there was a short period of abstinence. Evaluating the results in another way, 15 of the 21 cases abstained for a period that was at least six times as long as the usual period of abstinence before treatment. Of the remaining 6 cases, 3 stayed completely abstinent, but at the date of this report had not been under treatment for as long as six times the longest pre-treatment free interval. Most patients whose treatment was classified as successful reported that they felt alert, energetic, and able to do their work and to face their difficul- ties. They felt that they no longer needed the support of alcohol and con- sequently had no temptation to drink. *Some observers consider this limitation unnecessary (sée, é.g., p. 3), and in certain types of alcoholism treated with ‘ Benzedrine’ Brand Tablets it is certainly possible to avoid ‘ hospitalization’ —‘‘that insidious adaptation of the individual to an idle and abnormal existence at the very time when he is undergoing treatment for a failure to adapt to greater demands.” HUNKYUNUNUAL
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