Acamprosate, sold under the brand name Campral, is a medication used along with counselling to treat alcohol use disorder.Acamprosate is thought to stabilize chemical signaling in the brain that would otherwise be disrupted by alcohol withdrawal. When used alone, acamprosate is not an effective therapy for alcohol use disorder in most individuals; studies have found that acamprosate works best when used in combination with psychosocial support since the drug facilitates a reduction in alcohol consumption as well as full abstinence.Serious side effects include  allergic reactions, abnormal heart rhythms, and low or high blood pressure, while less serious side effects include headaches, insomnia, and impotence. Diarrhea is the most common side-effect. Acamprosate should not be taken by people with kidney problems or allergies to the drug.Until it became generic in the United States, Campral was manufactured and marketed in the United States by Forest Laboratories, while Merck KGaA markets it outside the US. Medical uses
Acamprosate is useful when used along with counseling in the treatment of alcohol use disorder. Over three to twelve months it increases the number of people who do not drink at all and the number of days without alcohol. It appears to work as well as naltrexone for maintenance of abstinence from alcohol, however naltrexone works slightly better for reducing alcohol cravings and heavy drinking, and acamprosate tends to work more poorly outside of Europe where treatment services are less robust.
Blood phobia (also known as hemophobia or hematophobia in American English and haemophobia or haematophobia in British English) is an extreme irrational fear of blood, a type of specific phobia. Severe cases of this fear can cause physical reactions that are uncommon in most other fears, specifically vasovagal syncope (fainting). Similar reactions can also occur with trypanophobia and traumatophobia. For this reason, these phobias are categorized as blood-injection-injury phobia by the DSM-IV. Some early texts refer to this category as "blood-injury-illness phobia." Causes
Blood phobia is often caused by direct or vicarious trauma in childhood. Though some have suggested a possible genetic link, a study of twins suggests that social learning and traumatic events, rather than genetics, is of greater significance.. Blood-injection-injury phobia (BII) affects about 4% of the population in the United States.The inclusion of BII within the category of specific or simple phobias in classificatory systems reflects a perception that fear has a primary role in the disorder. Consistent with this assumption, blood-injury phobia appears to share a common etiology with other phobias. Kendler, Neale, Kessler, Heath, and Eaves (1992) have argued from data comparing monozygotic with dizygotic twins that the genetic factor common to all phobias (agoraphobia, social phobia, and specific phobias), strongly predisposes a person to specific phobias. The recognition of an inherited vulnerability common to all phobias is consistent with the notion that elevated trait anxiety predisposes one to anxiety disorders. Trait anxiety provides a background of affective arousal that permits a more rapid activation of the fight or flight response.