Blood pressure medication may help curb alcohol use

Aventura, Florida – Treatment for alcohol consumption disorder may be successful when combined with a drug prescribed for high blood pressure and cardiac issues.

According to a National Institutes of Health study, the drug Spironalactone, often known by its trade name Aldactone, may help people cut back on their drinking.

“It works by a unique mechanism — it blocks mineralocorticoid receptors and there are mineralocorticoid receptors throughout the body, including the brain and the liver, and these studies suggest that people who take this drug, which is very safe, can reduce alcohol consumption and this is seen in both the rat model and the human model, and it’s really exciting,” said cardiologist Dr. Leonard Pianko.

Spironalactone is a diuretic, therefore Pianko advised patients should have their potassium and kidney function constantly checked.

There are now three drugs that have been licensed for the treatment of alcohol use disorder in the United States, and they have all been shown to be successful.

In today’s health news, it was discovered that increased blood glucose can harm the eyes even before a diabetes diagnosis, according to a recent Dutch study.

Researchers discovered corneal nerve damage in people with prediabetes as well, indicating that the damage is a process that begins long before type 2 diabetes develops.

The CDC estimates that 96 million Americans, or more than one in three, have prediabetes, and 80% of them are completely unaware of it.