The registered trademark name for disulfiram is Antabuse—it is the most commonly used medication for the treatment of ALCOHOLISM and the only one of two medications (the other being naltrexone) approved for this use in the United States, as of 2000. It is not intended as a substitute for the counseling alcoholics receive while in treatment; it is meant to be an aid in keeping alcoholics sober, so that they may benefit from counseling. Although disulfiram has been in clinical use since the late 1940s, only since the 1980s has its efficacy been studied by appropriate scientific methodology.

Disulfiram is used to deter drinking by causing an unpleasant reaction if a medicated person drinks ALCOHOL (ethanol). This reaction is called the disulfiram-ethanol reaction (DER); the symptoms include flushing, dizziness, rapid heartbeat, nausea, vomiting, and headache. The DER is of varying severity, and the degree of severity often depends...