Alcohol Withdrawal

Efficacy of Alternative and Other Treatments According to GRADE* Ranking:

Megavitamin Therapy (Multivitamin, Vitamin Supplements) [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]:

Please Note that while supplements are effective in correcting deficiencies in the body, their long-term usage is not helpful in preventing diseases like cancer and heart disease. To prevent these illnesses one should eat the natural foods which these vitamins and minerals come from. Replacing natural sources with artificial supplements actually increases the risk of heart disease, cancer, and other diseases. Supplements should be taken only as a balanced multivitamin supplement that contains no more than 100% of the recommended daily allowance. It would be most helpful in people with restricted food intakes, pregnant women and women of childbearing age.

Recommendation: Weakly against. (There is no evidence that Megavitamin therapy can prevent or treat alcoholism. In fact, long term therapy can lead to increased risk for other diseases)

Grade of Evidence: moderate quality of evidence

Red Pepper (Capsaicin):

Please note, this management does NOT treat the condition itself. It is proposed only as a weak supportive symptomatic support, and even then, has insufficient evidence to back up this claim at present.

Recommendation: no recommendation (There is insufficient evidence to support claims that red peppers help to treat or prevent alcohol withdrawal)

Grade of Evidence: very low quality of evidence

Magnetic Therapy:

Recommendation: no recommendation (There is insufficient evidence to show that Magnetic Therapy  can help with Alcohol dependance)

Grade of Evidence: low quality of evidence

Hypnosis:

Recommendation: no recommendation (evidence has shown that hypnosis is not effective in helping people treat Alcohol dependance)

Grade of Evidence: low quality of evidence

Meditation:

Recommendation: no recommendation (There is insufficient evidence to show that Meditation can help with Alcohol dependance)

Grade of Evidence: very low quality of evidence

Thiamine [8]:

Recommendation: Weakly in favor (Early studies show that thiamine may be able to help treat alcohol withdrawal. More studies are needed)

Grade of Evidence: Low quality of evidence

Folic Acid [8]:

Recommendation: Weakly in favor (Early studies show that folic acid may be able to help treat alcohol withdrawal. More studies are needed)

Grade of Evidence: Low quality of evidence

* www.gradeworkinggroup.org

Summary References

Treatments:

1. Ades T, Alteri R, Gansler T, Yeargin P, "Complete Guide to Complimentary & Alternative Cancer Therapies", American Cancer Society, Atlanta USA, 2009

2. http://www.cancer.org/Treatment/TreatmentsandSideEffects/ComplementaryandAlternativeMedicine/HerbsVitaminsandMinerals/orthomolecular-medicine

3. http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/163/2/192.pdf

4. http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/ortho.html

5. http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/72/5/707

6. http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/no-index/about-ama/13638.shtml

7. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17327526

8. http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh22-1/38-43.pdf

Public Discussion