I was about 17/18 when I started drinking socially on a regular basis. Since then I have varied from being a heavy drinker to being a tea totaller. Twice in my life alcohol has been a problem. Some 11 years ago, after a series of alcoholic blackouts where I became quite violent, my partner laid me an ultimatum to seek help. I paid one visit to Alcoholics Anonymous; it scared me into being sober for months and have never had a violent episode since. Last year I noticed myself losing control again and sought help from a local organisation, Last Orders, who helped me achieve a balance and clarity over what i was drinking and how it was making me feel and act and seek the reasons to these feelings. Today, I still drink most days, but unlike before I am aware of the fact and can stop myself before it gets out of hand and I start down the road to being unable to remember anything of the night before.
Whilst at Last Orders, I was given an insightful article on some scientific evidence that had been unearthed that medically highlighted changes in the brain of alcoholics. The research was done by Andrew Eisenhauer and was based on the writings of a Dr David L Ohlms in "The disease concept of alcoholism". I have shortened it down somewhat but it makes interesting reading.
Research into alcoholism by the medical community has been ongoing for years by an intriguing discovery was made by accident. A Texan scientist researching cancer in humans, Virginia Davis, used human brains to assist her work, namely discovered deceased alcoholics on the city's streets. From dissecting the brains she found a substance commonly associated with the use of heroin in the brain tissue, THIQ(tetrahydroisoquinoline). Knowing that the bulk of these alcoholics would not have the cash to buy booze & drugs she decided to investigate further.
QUICK BIOLOGY LESSON!
A normal adult processes alcohol at one unit per hour. Alcohol converted into subtance called Acetaldehyde, which is usually removed by the body naturally by converting it into acetic acid(vinegar), then carbon dioxide then water. So we breathe it out, and pee it away! This also happens in an alcoholic too....sort of.
Virginia Davis discovered that in an alcoholic, a small amount of Acetaldehyde remains in the body where it goes to the brain and over time is converted into THIQ. This does not happen to the occasional social drinker. THIQ has been found to be highly addictive. During WW2, it was used as a painkiller, hoping it would be less addictive than morphine; they were wrong.
Experiments using rats, who naturally avoid alcohol, were injected with THIQ, and given a weak solution of vodka & water. These rats drank the alcohol solution rather than plain water. A similar study using monkeys, produced similar results. Once in the brain THIQ does not break down or go away, so 7 years after the experiment, the deceased monkeys brains were examined, and yes, the THIQ was there.
Studies have shown too that looking at an alcoholics family tree usually reveals a history of drinking, a predispostion to it, an abnormality in body chemistry to produce THIQ.
No one intends to become an alcoholic or produce THIQ when they start drinking nor do we know which of us has this internal blueprint to become one. It is a process that gradually builds over time, as each drink slowly means a tiny amount of the addictive THIQ is formed and builds up within the brain. At some point the influence of THIQ takes control and social drinker slowly moves to an alcoholic based personality. Once this line has been crossed, the alcoholic is as addicted to drink as a drug addict is to heroin, cocaine etc, all from a perfectly legal substance in a society that readily promotes alcohol use.
Interesting stuff, eh? Again there are numerous factors associated with alcoholism, but I did found this very informative and wanted to share with you all.
MB
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