Got a drinking problem? Try kudzu

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Got a drinking problem?

Try kudzu

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7884540/

Study: Herb may be effective

in reducing alcohol intake

Chemicals in the Kudzu vine, an herb which has spread throughout the

U.S. south, may speed up the effects of alcohol in the blood.

 

The Associated Press

Updated: 6:32 p.m. ET May 17, 2005

BOSTON - The hardy, invasive kudzu vine, introduced to this country decades

ago to control soil erosion, could have what it takes to curb binge

drinking, new research suggests.

 

Kudzu, an ever-expanding plant considered a pest in much of the South,

appears to contain a compound that can be effective in reducing alcohol

intake among humans.

 

Researcher Scott Lukas did not have any trouble rounding up volunteers for

his study, published in this month's issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and

Experimental Research.

 

Lukas' team at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital set up a makeshift

" apartment " in a laboratory, complete with a television, reclining chair and

a refrigerator stocked with beer.

 

Findings show that subjects who took kudzu drank an average of 1.8 beers per

session, compared with the 3.5 beers consumed by those who took a placebo.

 

Lukas was not certain why but speculated that kudzu increases blood alcohol

levels and speeds up its effects. More simply put, the subjects needed fewer

beers to feel drunk.

 

" That rapid infusion of alcohol is satisfying them and taking away their

desire for more drinks, " Lukas said. " That's only a theory. It's the best we've

got so far. "

 

'Perfectly safe'

In 2003, David Overstreet and other scientists found the herb to be

effective in reducing alcohol intake on rats.

 

" There's a lot of anecdotal evidence from China that kudzu could be useful,

but this is the first documented evidence that it could reduce drinking in

humans, " said Overstreet, who described Lukas' work " groundbreaking. "

 

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Lukas recruited 14 men and women in their 20s to spend four 90-minute

sessions consuming beer and watching TV. Researchers selected people who

said they regularly consumed three to four drinks per day.

 

After the first session, some subjects received capsules of kudzu, others a

placebo.

 

" Unbeknownst to them, I was weighing that mug of beer every time they took a

sip, " Lukas said. " We actually got a sip-by-sip analysis of their drinking

behavior. "

 

None of the subjects had any side effects from mixing kudzu with beer.

 

" It's perfectly safe, from what we can tell, " Lukas said. " Individuals

reported feeling a little more tipsy or lightheaded, but not enough to make

them walk into walls or stumble and fall. "

 

Reduce alcohol cravings

Though kudzu won't turn drinkers into teetotalers, Lukas said, he hopes it

can help heavy drinkers to cut back.

 

" That way, they're a lot closer to being able to cut down completely, " he

said.

 

Lukas' study was inspired by Dr. Wing Ming Keung, a pathology professor at

Harvard Medical School who has studied kudzu's potential medical

applications.

 

Keung, not directly involved in Lukas' study, said he has extracted a

compound from kudzu root that he hopes to turn into a drug for reducing

alcoholics' cravings.

 

" The most urgent need is helping people who cannot help themselves, who need

a drug to help them stop drinking, " Keung said.

 

© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be

published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 

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