cupholder comments on Diseased thinking: dissolving questions about disease - Less Wrong

236 Post author: Yvain 30 May 2010 09:16PM

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Comment author: NancyLebovitz 07 June 2010 03:15:23PM 6 points [-]

Thanks for looking this up.

Unless I've missed something, only the third study might have used baclofen in high enough dosages to test Arneisen's hypothesis.

From his FAQ:

Q How much baclofen does a patient need?

A It varies from patient to patient, depending probably on physical size, extent of dependency, and other factors. Studies have shown that animals lose all motivation to consume addictive substances when they are given baclofen in the range of 1 to 5 milligrams per kilogram (2.2 pounds) of body weight.

The evidence from my case and other patients is that the threshold dose needed to break the cycle of addictive craving, preoccupation, and obsessive thoughts is higher than the maintenance dose needed to keep a patient completely free from addiction.

Comment author: cupholder 08 June 2010 02:38:45PM 2 points [-]

Good point. I hadn't read Ameisen's FAQ; I just went running off to Google Scholar as soon as I read your comment. I might come back later and see what doses were used in each of those studies and see whether the studies with higher doses had more positive results.