UCLA psychologist looks for new ways to treat alcohol addiction

Lara Ray, professor of psychology at UCLA, has been studying alcohol use disorders since long before the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2008, she established theUCLA Addictions Lab to research medications and other treatments for those who want to quit or reduce their drinking. But a spike in alcohol consumption during the pandemic has brought substance abuse back into the spotlight. Alcohol-related deaths in the U.S. rose 25% to nearly 100,000 in the first year of the pandemic, according to a study from the National Institutes of Health.UCLA Newsroom asked  Ray, who today became president of the Research Society on Alcoholism, about the research she is doing to help improve treatments for alcohol abuse.What do you think the future of treating addiction will look like?As more treatments are developed and we find them to be more effective, we hope that more and more patients will get to benefit from medications for alcohol use disorders. So, we ’re optimistic that medications will be a part of the landscape of addiction recovery for alcohol.The drinking issue has really become even more prevalent in the past decades. We ’ve seen a lot more alcohol-associated deaths in the United States. We know that more than half of liver transplants result from alcohol-related liver disease. We’re really seeing that there is a need to stop drinking problems earlier, so that we can prevent morbidity and mortality.If you or someone you know is struggling with alcohol use, what are the best steps...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news