Combined dopamine and serotonin agonists: a synergistic approach to alcoholism and other addictive behaviors.

Successful phentermine and racemic fenfluramine treatment of 150 obese patients led to the use of this therapy in 12 alcoholic patients. Eleven of 12 consecutive patients, most within hours, reported a total loss or marked decrease in alcohol craving. Their reported consumption of alcohol ceased or decreased markedly. The hypothesis is proposed that this treatment is successful because of the dual and balanced increase in the bioavailability of the neurotransmitters, dopamine and serotonin, in the nucleus accumbens. The prospect is raised that cocaine, nicotine, narcotic, and amphetamine addiction, as well as various presentations of obsessive compulsive behavior, may also respond to dual aminergic agonists. The need for controlled studies to confirm these findings is clear.