Rwerwe

Journal of Psychopharmacology
http://jop.sagepub.com/ Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) for alcoholism: meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Teri S Krebs and Pål Ørjan Johansen J Psychopharmacol published online 8 March 2012 DOI: 10.1177/0269881112439253 The online version of this article can be found at: http://jop.sagepub.com/content/early/2012/03/08/0269881112439253

Published by:http://www.sagepublications.com

On behalf of:

British Association for Psychopharmacology

Additional services and information for Journal of Psychopharmacology can be found at: Email Alerts: http://jop.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts Subscriptions: http://jop.sagepub.com/subscriptions Reprints: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav Permissions: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav>> OnlineFirst Version of Record - Mar 8, 2012 What is This?

Downloaded from jop.sagepub.com by guest on March 12, 2012

439253
2012

JOP0010.1177/0269881112439253Krebs and JohansenJournal of Psychopharmacology

Review

Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) for alcoholism: meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Teri S Krebs1,2 and Pål-Ørjan Johansen1,2

Journal ofPsychopharmacology 0(0) 1–9 © The Author(s) 2012 Reprints and permission: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0269881112439253 jop.sagepub.com

Abstract
Assessments of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in the treatment of alcoholism have not been based on quantitative meta-analysis. Hence, we performed a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials in order to evaluate the clinical efficacyof LSD in the treatment of alcoholism. Two reviewers independently extracted the data, pooling the effects using odds ratios (ORs) by a generic inverse variance, random effects model. We identified six eligible trials, including 536 participants. There was evidence for a beneficial effect of LSD on alcohol misuse (OR, 1.96; 95% CI, 1.36–2.84; p = 0.0003). Between-trial heterogeneity for thetreatment effects was negligible (I² = 0%). Secondary outcomes, risk of bias and limitations are discussed. A single dose of LSD, in the context of various alcoholism treatment programs, is associated with a decrease in alcohol misuse.

Keywords
Alcoholism, alcohol-related disorders, hallucinogens, meta-analysis, psychedelics, substance-related disorders

Introduction
Alcohol is said to cause moreoverall harm than any other drug (Nutt et al., 2010). Alcohol contributes to about 4% of total mortality and about 5% of disability adjusted life-years to the global burden of disease (Rehm et al., 2009). Despite the often extreme individual and social consequences of alcohol misuse, many users find it challenging to stop drinking. Alcoholism, also called alcohol dependence, continues to bedifficult to treat, and many patients do not achieve recovery from existing treatments (Schuckit, 2009). Numerous clinical investigators have claimed that treating alcoholics with individual doses of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), in combination with psychosocial interventions, can help to prevent a relapse of alcohol misuse, for example, by eliciting insights into behavioural patterns andgenerating motivation to build a meaningful sober lifestyle (Dyck, 2008). LSD is wellknown for inducing spectacular and profound effects on the mind (Henderson and Glass, 1994; Passie et al., 2008). It has previously been used in standard treatment programs for alcoholism at many clinics, but, unfortunately, assessments of the clinical value of LSD have not been based on formal systematic review andmetaanalysis (Mangini, 1998). Hence, we have performed a quantitative evaluation of the effectiveness of LSD for alcoholism, based on data from randomized controlled clinical trials.

results by reading the titles and abstracts. We retrieved each potentially relevant publication located in the search and assessed it for inclusion, subsequently examining the reference lists of eligible studies and...