Researchers from The University of California claim to have created a pill that can not only reduce the visible effects of intoxication but can actually lower blood alcohol content and therefore reduce liver damage caused by excessive drinking.
The miracle “booze pill” study was published in the Nature Nanotechnology journal recently and documented how scientists combined 2 enzymes and tested their ability to act as an alcohol prophylactic and antidote.
The study was conducted on mice that were given a combination of the enzymes. The mice recorded lower blood-alcohol content over time. Although human beings are different to mice, the study has been used to develop the “booze pill” which it is hoped will have similar results on humans.
Read what this post on Yahoo News reported on the new pill:
In a study published in the Nature Nanotechnology journal today, scientists combined two enzymes and tested their ability to act as an alcohol prophylactic and antidote. Intoxicated mice given a combination of the enzymes recorded lower blood-alcohol content over time.
Researchers from the University of California found the blood-alcohol concentration reduced 10.1 per cent 45 minutes after the alcohol intake, by 31.8 per cent at 90 minutes and 36.8 per cent at three hours – compared with smaller reductions when the mice were given alcohol followed by just one of the enzymes.
To test the pill’s antidote potential, the team injected intoxicated mice with the two enzymes 30 minutes later. The mice were found to have healthier livers and a significant reduction in blood-alcohol concentration, compared with those injected with one enzyme.
Research author Yunfeng Lu said the work suggested that the artificially produced “nanocomplexes” could provide a method for preventing liver injury arising from the over-consumption of alcohol.
“Excessive consumption and abuse of alcohol are associated with a range of organ injuries and social problems,” Professor Lu said.
Source: http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/breaking/16163205/tablet-cuts-effects-of-alcohol/
But drinkers shouldn’t get too excited about the prospect of drinking to their hearts content without any consequences. According to WA Professor, Mike Daube from the McCusker Centre for Action in Alcohol and Youth, the drug is still a speculative concept and cannot be hailed as the answer to society’s drinking problems. According to the professor the problem of excessive drinking is a theoretical one rather than scientific and mice are very different from human beings so it is not guaranteed that the same results will repeated in people.
In the immediate future, the Professor suggests in the article that tackling the issues of alcohol pricing and accessibility are more important than addressing long term drinking. He also warned that most experimental pills seldom go beyond the laboratory, so relying on this “booze-pill” is not the answer.
Fostering a culture of responsible drinking is the only way that we are going to achieve a solution to the alcohol fuelled social problems in Oz. One of the ways to do this is by enforcing responsible service of alcohol laws. Don’t serve alcohol to underage patrons or patrons that are unduly intoxicated. Promote responsible drinking in your bar or pub by encouraging people to drink in moderation and not to drink and drive.