A new drug to treat alcoholism has improved the chances of addicts quitting drinking, the director of Japan's largest alcoholism treatment center says.
Regtect, which went on sale in May, is sold by Nippon Shinyaku Co., which licensed it from Merck Sante of France.
Susumu Higuchi, director of the National Hospital Kurihama Alcoholism Center, is among those doctors with high hopes for it. Regtect helps by improving the chemical balance in the brain to suppress a patient's craving, whereas conventional drugs discourage drinking by causing unpleasant symptoms, such as palpitations, nausea and headaches, after alcohol consumption.