Opioid antagonists in the treatment of XXXX .

@entity1 @entity836 @entity23 @entity11532 @entity33479
BACKGROUND: Symptoms of @entity23 are generally refractory to psychotherapeutic or pharmacologic treatments. Recent study results suggest that opioid antagonists may reduce @entity1 urges, one of the core symptoms of @entity23 . The author discusses the rationale for and the potential utility of the opioid antagonists in the treatment of @entity23 . METHOD: Work by preclinical and clinical investigators on the subject of motivation and its contextually relevant behavior is reviewed. The review includes the pharmacologic modulation of the motivation or drive and subsequent changes in behavior in animals and @entity1 . On the basis of these reviews, the author prescribed @entity836 for up to 9 months to 15 @entity1 who had @entity23 , and 3 select cases are reported. RESULTS: @entity836 was generally well tolerated, and there were no hepatic side effects. @entity836 appears to reduce urge-related symptoms and decreases the problematic behaviors such as @entity11532 . The effect appears to be sustained. In general, 50 mg/day of @entity836 was not effective. Most @entity1 required higher doses. Results were similar in the 12 other cases not reported here. CONCLUSION: @entity836 may be of use in select @entity23 @entity1 . Other opioid antagonists such as @entity33479 also need to be tested. Until controlled study data become available, the present report should be viewed as preliminary.
