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U scientists study alcoholism drug's effects on kleptomania
Benjamin Sandell
- Staff Reporter
A drug meant to stop alcoholics from drinking might also keep kleptomaniacs from stealing if a University medication study succeeds.
Psychiatric resident Dr. Jon Grant and associate professor Dr. Suck Won Kim, co-investigators in the study, are testing the drug Naltrexone on seven or eight participants in the study.
Since late October, only one person has finished the study, but researchers said they are hopeful about the outcome.
"The results look very promising," Grant said.
Kleptomania, an impulse control disorder that creates an urge to steal, affects approximately 5 percent of shoplifters, said Gary Christenson, director of the mental health clinic at Boynton Health Service.
"I expect there are more people out there with the problem than we see clinically," Christenson said.
Many people with kleptomania suffer from guilt, depression and are often suicidal. There is no definitive treatment available to offset the urges; most people are, instead, treated for other disorders that often accompany kleptomania such as depression.
"There's a lot of guilt that goes along with (kleptomania)," Grant said. "It's really an overwhelming disorder."
Kleptomania is similar to other disorders such as certain forms of alcoholism, compulsive gambling and compulsive shopping in which the afflicted person has little or no control over his or her urges.
"Urges won't go away because they have biological underpinning," Kim said. He said that the kleptomania impulse is irresistible.
Kleptomaniacs feel pleasure and satisfaction while in the act of stealing, even if the object of the theft is not useful. Later, those suffering from the disorder might be overtaken by guilt, depression and shame.
Naltrexone is expected to help suppress these urges. Tests on alcoholics show that the drug, now available by prescription, blocks the pleasure that people feel when stealing.
Each participant in the study takes one to three pills of Naltrexone a day depending on the severity of the symptoms. The researchers then meet individually with each subject once a week for 11 weeks to discuss the participant's stealing behaviors, urges and distress level.
Most participants indicated they could resist urges to steal better when using the pill.
Any side effects, such as nausea, are also monitored on a weekly basis. Grant said continued use of the drug could cause damage to the patient's liver.
Not much research has been done on kleptomania for several reasons. While most patients know they have an uncontrollable problem, many are often ashamed and not willing to reveal their tendencies.
Other potential participants are afraid of possible prosecution for their crimes, despite the study's certificate of confidentiality that the records cannot be subpoenaed in court.
Kim said it has been frustrating trying to get the approximately 30 participants desired for the study and said they have faced continuous cancelations.
"It's been a major struggle," he said.
The study is internally funded and researchers said they hope to wrap up the study in the next few months.
"Information in the area is very limited," Kim said. "This study is the first of its kind when it comes to using a drug in treatment of kleptomania."
More information on the kleptomania study is available by calling (612) 273-9850.
Benjamin Sandell welcomes comments at bsandell@daily.umn.edu
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