I pulled this from the DBPC done in Finland, Targeted Use of Naltrexone Without Prior Detoxification in the Treatment of Alcohol Dependence: A Factorial Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial:

"The inclusion criteria were age of 21 to 65 years; satisfaction of DSM-IV criteria for alcohol dependence; consumption, on average, of five or more drinks per day in the last 30 days; and a stable living situation and availability of a collateral reporter."

The correct way to interpret this is that they must be drinking a minimum of 5 drinks per day on average not an average of 5 drinks per day. That works out to a minimum of 35 drinks per week on average (kind of). More specifically interpreted, it means that in order to be included in the study they had to have drank at the very least 150 drinks in the last 30 days.

Slap our average of 61 US units on there and you get a range of 35-81 (edit: 35-87) units a week. Okay, that's stretching it a bit, but not really. Finns on average, drink more than most (15 units/week). Saying that Finnish alcoholics drink as much as most (eg our random international sample) is not a stretch. Yes they were using US units in that study, 12g of pure ethanol/unit.

Does anyone remember where they stated this number of 35 units/week differently? I gave my copy of the book away so I can't look it up. I didn't think I'd have to use it as a reference because he repeated everything so ***damn many times I figured the entire contents were burned permanently into my retinas, and I gave it away as a wedding gift to a couple that needed it.

Anybody?

Okay, I know this is something we all care about. I know I'm not wrong about the verbiage of the inclusion criteria in the study. It means minimum, not average.

What I'm asking is if this is written differently somewhere else. I do not have my copy of the book anymore.

A very good point Lo0p, I hope someone will answer it soon (I've lost my copy of the book and might have to buy a new one).

Yeah, that figure comes from the clinics. The clinic in Florida claims even higher.



Oops, yes it is. Makes feel like even more of an alchy.

I have the PDF where they published the results from the clinic by the way.

Sinclair, John David(1998)'New treatment options for substance abuse from a public health viewpoint',Annals of Medicine, 30:4,406 — 411

I don't know that I've cut and pasted it here before (cutting and pasting PDF's is a pain in the a**).

If anyone wants it just let me know. It isn't anything new though, it's exactly the same numbers that are in the book.

Bump.

Anybody have any thoughts on this? Why aren't we discussing this? Is the answer no? Have we been wrong all along? Should I ask Eskapa or Sinclair? I want to but I'd rather get your feedback first, even if no one knows.

Sorry it took me so long to respond. Page 29 states that "drinking is reduced from an AVERAGE of thirty-seven units to nine per week." Emphasis mine. The extinction curve in the book is entitled "Extinction of alcohol in 115 patients (78% of first 147) to a MEAN of 9 drinks per week." Emphasis mine. The word "mean" means average so I interpret all of this to mean average drinks per week, not minimum.

I found the same data on pg 29 and elsewhere but I a little perplexed about the question.

Where is the the disparity and what are you trying to discern? Are you hoping to push up the 78% cure rate?

Although LoOp is more than capable of responding himself -- and I'm sure he will -- that's not where he was headed with this inquiry. The issue that has been discussed previously is "why are the TSM studies based upon people who only drink about 35 per week when your average boozer drinks a lot more than that?" According to LoOp's numbers, for example, your average TSMer here consumed more than 50 per week on average pre-TSM. If the studies were based upon 35 drinks per week, minimum, instead of average, then the studies had the potential to address the issue of efficacy with heavier drinkers. It appears, however, that's not the case, and the studies are based upon roughly 35 per week on average.