Acamprosate
Acamprosate, also known by the brand name Campral, is a drug used for treating alcohol dependence. It balances chemicals in your brain that are otherwise unbalanced due to alcoholism. Reports indicate that Acamprosate only works with a combination of attending support groups and abstinence from alcohol. Certain serious side effects include allergic reactions, irregular heartbeats, and low or high blood pressure, while less serious side effects include headaches, insomnia, and impotence. more...
While the FDA in the United States approved this drug in July 2004, this drug has been legal in Europe since 1989. Upon the FDA's approval, they have released this statement:
- "While its mechanism of action is not fully understood, Campral is thought to act on the brain pathways related to alcohol abuse. Campral was demonstrated to be safe and effective by multiple placebo-controlled clinical studies involving alcohol-dependent patients who had already been withdrawn from alcohol, (i.e., detoxified). Campral proved superior to placebo in maintaining abstinence (keeping patients off alcohol consumption), as indicated by a greater percentage of acamprosate-treated subjects being assessed as continuously abstinent throughout treatment. Campral is not addicting and was generally well-tolerated in clinical trials. The most common adverse events reported for patients taking Campral included headache, diarrhea, flatulence, and nausea."
The brand of this drug, Campral, is manufactured by Merch-Lipha in France. They are sold as 333mg white and odorless tablets of Acamprosate calcium, which is the equivalent of 300mg of Acamprosate.
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