London, May 6 (ANI): A new drug can help dependent drinkers reduce their consumption of alcohol by 61 percent.
According to manufacturers, if dependent drinkers take the drug nalmefene and undergo simultaneous counselling, they can cut their consumption levels by 61 percent, the Scotsman reported.
The pill, also called "selincro," has been licensed for use by health officials and will be available for doctors to prescribe to their patients from Monday.
Nalmefene has also been approved for use in Norway, Finland, Poland and the Baltic countries last month.
The pill - to be taken once a day - has been licensed for reduction of alcohol consumption in adult patients with alcohol dependence without physical withdrawal symptoms and who do not require immediate detoxification.
While current drugs help patients to become teetotal, this drug helps people with drinking problems to cut back on the amount they drink.
Nalefene works by modulating the reward mechanism in the brain, blocking the craving and "reward" from alcohol and reducing the desire to drink.
A clinical trial into the drug helped patients cut the amount that they drank from 12.75 units a day to five units a day.
People, who underwent counselling as well as taking the drug, reduced their "heavy drinking days" from 23 days a month to nine days a month after undergoing the treatment over a six month -period.
The NHS cost for nalmefene is 42.42 pounds for a supply of 14 tablets, lasting patients a fortnight. (ANI)
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