Use comprehensive and effective approaches to reduce the availability and affordability of alcohol such as by regulating the density of alcohol outlets through zoning and licensing, increasing alcohol taxes, or other strategies recommended by the Community Preventive Services Task Force.

Overcoming an addiction to alcohol can be a long and bumpy road. At times, it may even feel impossible. But it’s not. If you’re ready to stop drinking and willing to get the support you need, you can recover from alcoholism and alcohol abuse no matter how heavy your drinking or how powerless you feel. The following tips can help: Set your drinking goal. Choose a limit for how much you’ll drink, but make sure your limit is not more than one drink a day if you’re a woman, two drinks a day if you’re a man—and try to have some days each week when you won’t drink alcohol at all/Keep a record of your drinking to help you reach your goal. For 3 to 4 weeks, write down every time you have a drink and how much you drink. Reviewing the results, you may be surprised at your weekly drinking habits/Cut down drinking at home. Try to limit or remove alcohol from your home. It’s much easier to avoid drinking if you don’t keep temptations around/Drink slower. When you drink, sip slowly and take a break of 30 minutes or one hour between drinks. Or drink soda, water, or juice between alcoholic drinks. Drinking on an empty stomach is never a good idea, so make sure you eat food when you drink/Schedule one or two alcohol-free days each week. Then, try to stop drinking for one week. Make a note about how you feel physically and mentally on these days recognizing the benefits may help you to cut down for good.

The new research on naltrexone for helping to curb excessive alcohol use comes amid an increase in binge drinking in the United States. The annual number of binge drinks among adults who reported binge drinking jumped on average from 472 in 2011 to 529 in 2017, a 12% increase, according to a CDC study published in 2020.

The most effective therapy for alcoholism and alcohol related comorbidities is alcohol abstinence, however, chronic alcoholic patients cannot stop drinking alcohol. Therefore, targeted therapies are urgently needed to treat such populations.