Disulfiram-alcohol reaction in 49 year old patient

Ciechański Krystian, Tkaczyk Jędrzej, Brożyna Klaudia, Kędziora Aleksandra, Baltaziak Katarzyna, Tchórz Michał. Disulfiram-alcohol reaction in 49 year old patient. Journal of Education, Health and Sport. 2018;8(9):911-916 eISNN 2391-8306. DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1419193

http://ojs.ukw.edu.pl/index.php/johs/article/view/5997

https://pbn.nauka.gov.pl/sedno-webapp/works/877536

The journal has had 7 points in Ministry of Science and Higher Education parametric evaluation. Part b item 1223 (26/01/2017).

1223 Journal of Education, Health and Sport eissn 2391-8306 7

© The Authors 2018;

This article is published with open access at Licensee Open Journal Systems of Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz, Poland

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Received: 22.08.2018. Revised: 28.08.2018. Accepted: 14.09.2018.

Disulfiram-alcohol reaction in 49 year old patient

Krystian Ciechański¹, Jędrzej Tkaczyk¹, Klaudia Brożyna¹,

Aleksandra  Kędziora², Katarzyna Baltaziak², Michał Tchórz³

¹Student’s Research Group at the Department of Toxicology, Medical University of Lublin

² Student’s Research Group at Chair and Department of Epidemiology and Clinical Research Methodology, Medical University of Lublin

³Department of Toxicology, Medical University of Lublin

Abstract

Alcoholism is a disease in which person lose control over the amount of consumed alcohol. The problem of alcohol abuse in Poland concerns about 9% of the population. One of the treatment methods is disulfiram therapy, which is associated with the risk of disulfiram-alcohol reaction. Due to many negative reports of side effects and questionable efficacy, this drug is nowadays rare used.

We present a case of a patient who had a disulfiram reaction due to alcohol consumption during disulfiram therapy.

Key words: alcoholism, disulfiram, DER

Introduction

Alcoholism is a disease in which person lose control over the amount of consumed alcohol.

It is estimated that in Poland the problem of alcoholism and harmful drinkers affects approximately 3.3 million people, which is approximately 9% of the population. Only about 150 000 addicts undergo alcohol treatment. The most important treatment method is to maintain abstinence, which is attempted to achieve through various forms: psychotherapy, support groups or pharmacotherapy. Disulfiram is nowadays rarely used [3].

Effect of disulfiram on the body was for the first time observed in the 1930s. At that time, the workers of the vulcanization industry who were exposed to this substance felt ill shortly after drinking alcohol. This symptoms included flushing, nausea, dizziness, headache and hypotension. In the later years, a number of these symptoms were called the disulfiram reaction [4]. For medical purposes, disulfiram was first used at the turn of 1940/1950 and was the first drug registered by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) in USA for the treatment of alcoholism [5].

We present a case of a patient who had a disulfiram reaction due to alcohol consumption during disulfiram therapy.