An entry in the Journal of the American Medical Association has revealed a tested hypothesis that topiramate - a drug used to treat patients experiencing epilepsy - can reduce the effects of alcoholism and lower the urge to drink. Topiramate was found successful to some degree in achieving the desired effect, though more testing would be needed to fully affirm the claim.

Topiramate, under the brand of Topamax, is an FDA-approved, anti-convulsant drug that has also been approved for preventing migraines. Such a drug has also been known to cure other symptoms such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, bulimia nervosa, neuropathic pain, and the inhibition of the desire to smoke, though most are still in the investigational stages and are often off-hand therapeutic claims.

Of course, that doesn't include claims of side-effects associated with even "therapeutic doses" of topiramate, which ranges from short-term memory loss and difficulty in finding words to write or say. And sadly, certain epilepsy drugs have often been off-handedly claimed to sort out alcoholism from time to time.

But if scientists can upgrade the claims to an approved therapeutic level, then quitting the habit would no longer have "drying out" as the only way out.