New alcohol addiction treatment

or years people suffering from alcohol addiction have turned to AA and local support groups. Now a recent UVa study shows there's a pill already on the market that could help reduce alcohol cravings.

Most people are prescribed the drug topiramate for seizures and migraines. Now one UVa professor says that same pill can help people get rid of the bottle.

No matter how long you've been dependent on alcohol, 1 year or 20 years the drug topiramate has been shown to help reduce alcohol cravings, according to UVa professor Bankole Johnson.

Over a 14 week period close to 500 people participated in an alcohol addiction study. Participants were given 300 milligrams of topiramate every day for 14 weeks.

Professor Johnson says by the end of the program most people had a reduced amount of alcohol cravings.

”It has an effect to cut down craving and it has an effect to actually reduce the amount of alcohol consumed. We also believe it reduces the chances that someone will relapse because it decreased withdrawals symptoms," said Bankole Johnson, UVa Professor of Medicine.

Professor Johnson also says patients have better results when paring the medication with alcohol treatment programs.

UVa researchers are now working on the next step of this study which is creating a lower dosage of topiramate and doing more research on genetic treatment.

Before this medicine can be prescribed for alcohol addiction it must be approved by the FDA, which could take five to ten years.