Friday, April 14, 2006
Harmless Grog could become reality...
If it were needed to fight a disease, it would have been made by now, the alcohol pill that eliminates the negative side-effects. The problem is finding a pharmaco that will spend millions creating it, with the high likelihodd of governments banning its sale.
The trick pharmacologists need to pull off is to make a mixture of molecules that deliver alcohol's pleasurable effects, notably relaxation and sociability, without the aggression, nausea, loss of coordination and amnesia that can cause drinkers and those around them so much grief. Long-term problems such as cirrhosis of the liver could also be eliminated, says Nutt, who publishes the idea next month in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, (vol 20, p 318).More...
