--- title: Campral and Revia Help People Stop Drinking, Study Says description: Both drugs and therapy are the most effective means of treating alcoholism canonical: https://time.com/99063/drugs-alcoholism-fda/ author: Eliana Dockterman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-14T14:48:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T07:49:45.669Z article:section: Health og:title: Campral and Revia Help People Stop Drinking, Study Says og:description: Both drugs and therapy are the most effective means of treating alcoholism og:url: https://time.com/99063/drugs-alcoholism-fda/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Campral and Revia Help People Stop Drinking, Study Says twitter:description: Both drugs and therapy are the most effective means of treating alcoholism twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Medication Can Help People Stop Drinking, Study Says  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent May 14, 2014 2:48 PM UTC  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent May 14, 2014 2:48 PM UTC Newly-developed medication can be an effective means of curbing alcohol dependence when paired with psychological counseling, according to a [new study](http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=202789&resultClick=3) published in JAMA. In the first large, randomized study in the United States that tested the efficacy of FDA-approved drugs for alcohol dependents either combined with or without therapy, a large team of researchers from across the U.S. found that acamprosate (Campral) and naltrexone (Revia) successfully help users stop drinking when combined with psychological treatment. Right now, most doctors either prescribe drugs or treatment, but rarely both. Two other drugs, nalmefene (Selincro) and topiramate (Topamax), can also help patients stop drinking, the study found. Eight million people in the United States are currently alcohol dependent. Alcoholism can case liver and brain damage, as well as damage to other organs, and can increase the likelihood of dying early by three times. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/99063/drugs-alcoholism-fda/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/99063/drugs-alcoholism-fda/"},"headline":"Medication Can Help People Stop Drinking, Study Says","datePublished":"2014-05-14T14:48:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:49:45.669Z","description":"A combination of alcohol cessation drugs and psychological therapy is the most effective means of treating alcoholism, new study finds","url":"https://time.com/99063/drugs-alcoholism-fda/","keywords":["Addiction","medicine","alcoholism"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/addiction/","name":"Addiction"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/99063/drugs-alcoholism-fda/","name":"Medication Can Help People Stop Drinking, Study Says"}}]}] ```