Medical adjustment of alcohol use disorder (AUD) with opioids

Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) is among the most important chronic diseases in the world. In contrast to almost all other chronic diseases, there is still no long-term drug treatment and, thus, no ongoing medical care. However, in our specialised practice, we have been able to document for decades that AUD patients can be effectively treated with long-term medication. An agonistic approach has proven to be far superior to an antagonistic one. In principle, this can be done with several agonistic substances. We have achieved by far the best effects with opioids, especially with dihydrocodeine (DHC), and in smaller numbers also with buprenorphine. 24.6% of all 116 people treated with DHC for AUD achieved stable symptom-free status over the years. The University of Grenoble also reports similar experiences with buprenorphine, and similar experiences have been observed in rats in Italy. For two years, there have been first experiences with DHC at a small centre in Berlin. If we can prescribe effective drugs to treat AUD, this opens up completely new possibilities to have a decisive positive influence on the serious chronic disease through long-term care. To be able to test these experiences in international networking at other centres with guaranteed observance of special caution standards, an international network, INTAUD, was founded in June 2024. This treatment may not be carried out without observing these standards, because incorrect intake is life-threatening.