LIKE & SUBSCRIBE!!! to get notified when I upload a new video. This is my YOUTUBE channel for my WEIGHT LOSS JOURNEY. I hope i cover some of the challenges we all face when it comes to healthy eating and lifestyle. Disulfiram Antabuse and Antabus (part extracts form wikipedia) Disulfiram is a drug discovered in the 1920s[1] and used to support the treatment of chronic alcoholism by producing an acute sensitivity to alcohol. It blocks the processing of alcohol in the body by inhibiting acetaldehyde dehydrogenase, thus causing an unpleasant reaction when alcohol is consumed. Disulfiram should be used in conjunction with counseling and support. Trade names for disulfiram in different countries are Antabuse and Antabus manufactured by Odyssey Pharmaceuticals Alcohol abuse Under normal metabolism, alcohol is broken down in the liver by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase to acetaldehyde, which is then converted by the enzyme acetaldehyde dehydrogenase to the harmless acetic acid. Disulfiram blocks this reaction at the intermediate stage by blocking acetaldehyde dehydrogenase. After alcohol intake under the influence of disulfiram, the concentration of acetaldehyde in the blood may be five to 10 times higher than that found during metabolism of the same amount of alcohol alone. As acetaldehyde is one of the major causes of the symptoms of a "hangover", this produces immediate and severe negative reaction to alcohol intake. Some five to 10 minutes after alcohol intake, the patient may experience the effects of a severe hangover for a period of 30 minutes up to several hours. Symptoms include flushing of the skin, accelerated heart rate, shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, throbbing headache, visual disturbance, mental confusion, postural syncope, and circulatory collapse. Disulfiram should not be taken if alcohol has been consumed in the last 12 hours.[6] There is no tolerance to disulfiram: the longer it is taken, the stronger its effects. As disulfiram is absorbed slowly through the digestive tract and eliminated slowly by the body, the effects may last for up to two weeks after the initial intake; consequently, medical ethics dictate that patients must be fully informed about the disulfiram-alcohol reaction.[7] A nine-year study published in 2006 found that incorporation of supervised disulfiram and a related compound calcium carbimide into a comprehensive treatment program resulted in an abstinence rate of over 50%.[8] Disulfiram does not reduce alcohol cravings, so a major problem associated with this drug is extremely poor compliance. A classic study by Fuller et al. (1986) that followed chronic alcoholics for a period of one year found no statistically significant differences in abstinence rates between the group that received 250 mg/day of disulfiram and the group that only received counseling. The reason for this finding was that only 20% of subjects in disulfiram group were estimated to be in good compliance with the drug regimen.[9] Methods to improve compliance include subdermal implants, which release the drug continuously over a period of up to 12 weeks, and supervised administration practices, for example, having the drug regularly administered by one's spouse. Although disulfiram remained the most common pharmaceutical treatment of alcohol abuse till the end of the 20th century, today it is often replaced or accompanied with newer drugs, primarily the combination of naltrexone and acamprosate, which directly attempt to address physiological processes in the brain associated with alcohol abuse.

• published: 18 Jan 2014
• views: 45