The Sinclair Method

The Sinclair Method is a therapeutic method provided for use as an adjunct in the treatment of alcoholism. The method consists of extinguishing the alcohol-drinking response of alcoholics during a relatively short period of time by having them drink alcoholic beverages repeatedly while an opiate antagonist (e.g. Naltrexone) blocks the positive reinforcement effects of ethanol in the brain.[1]

The Sinclair Method was confirmed, first in a large body of laboratory studies,[2] then in over 90 clinical trials around the world.[3][4][5] It has been found to be successful in about 80% of alcoholics.

In November 2014 Nalmefene was appraised and approved as a treatment supplied by Britain's National Health Service (NHS) for reducing alcohol consumption in people with alcohol dependence. Formal guidance on its use was issued by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).[6]

The Sinclair Method may also be referred to as Pharmacological Extinction and can be described as Pavlov's Dog in reverse.

Research into the causes of and possible solutions for Alcohol Use Disorder began in the mid 1960s. It was funded through an Act Of Parliament to reduce the harm caused by excessive drinking. In 1969, the government owned Alko Labs - currently the National Public Health and Welfare Institute, Helsinki - recruited Dr David Sinclair from the University of Oregon after his publications on the Alcohol Deprivation Effect[7] with the first human trials using naltrexone and nalmefene starting in the mid 1990s.

References

  1. ↑ https://www.google.com/patents/US4882335
  2. ↑ http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/07853899009147920
  3. ↑ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11386491
  4. ↑ http://alcalc.oxfordjournals.org/content/36/1/2.full
  5. ↑ Eskapa, R. The Cure for Alcoholism, Dallas, TX: BenBella Books, 2008, 2012. http://www.amazon.com/Cure-Alcoholism-Medically-Eliminate-Addiction/dp/1937856135/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1448042405&sr=8-1&keywords=eskapa+cure
  6. ↑ "Nalmefene for reducing alcohol consumption in people with alcohol dependence". NICE technology appraisal guidance [TA325]. NICE - UK Government body. November 2014. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
  7. ↑ Koros, Eliza; Piasecki, Jerzy; Kostowski, Wojciech; Bienkowski, Przemyslaw (1999-07-01). "Development of Alcohol Deprivation Effect in Rats: Lack of Correlation with Saccharin Drinking and Locomotor Activity". Alcohol and Alcoholism 34 (4): 542–550. doi:10.1093/alcalc/34.4.542. ISSN 0735-0414. PMID 10456582.
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