Family Recovery As a Developmental Process
Jacqueline Wallen in Addiction in Human Development, 2014
Is it really alcoholism? In spite of the rationalizations that Martha's "pride system" mobilizes, she is ashamed of her drinking and experiences a great deal of remorse over her drunken behavior. She is afraid her behavior will cause George to leave her. At one point she says: "Some night, some stupid liquor-ridden night . . . I will go too far . . . and I'll either break the man's back . . . or push him off for good . . . which is what I deserve." In spite of her fears about the consequences of her drinking, she continues to drink. This alone is indicative of alcoholism. In fact, one definition of alcoholism is that it is "a disease in which the person's use of alcohol continues despite problems it causes in any area of life (Kinney and Leaton, 1982). Also, Martha experiences blackouts, and drinks alone and in the morning, all classic signs of alcoholism, George's case is less clear to me. He is a heavy drinker but not clearly alcoholic. I feel that the nature of his drinking will clarify itself as we deal with Martha's drinking.
Case 20: A drink a day to keep my problems at bay
Barry Wright, Subodh Dave, Nisha Dogra in 100 Cases in Psychiatry, 2017
The threshold for the CAGE suggesting potential problems is two out of four. It is clear in this case that this man has a significant problem. The following signs and symptoms strongly suggest alcohol dependence syndrome: Strong desire to take alcohol with a narrowed repertoire of drinking.Dominance of drinking over other responsibilities.Tolerance to alcohol – that is, needing more and more alcohol to produce the same effects.Physiological withdrawal state if alcohol is reduced or ceased.Use of alcohol to prevent withdrawal.Preoccupation with alcohol use and compulsion to drink.Return to drinking even after periods of abstinence.Persistence of alcohol use despite the harmful effects (may be physical, social or emotional).
Improving the Old, Embracing the New: Implications of Alcohol Research for Future Practice
Gary Rosenberg, Weissman Andrew in Behavioral and Social Sciences in 21st Century Health Care: Contributions and Opportunities, 2021
Because alcoholism is a complex disease, there are likely to be many genes involved in increasing an individual’s risk for alcoholism. Scientists are looking for these genes and have found locations on chromosomes where they are likely to be. One important contributor to the study of the genetics of alcoholism is the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA), a NIAAA-supported multisite study at six centers. This study, which was begun in 1989, assessed individuals from multigenerational families with a prevalence of alcoholism. Each of these families contained at least three first-degree relatives with alcohol dependence. Using a variety of cutting edge tools and techniques from molecular biology, neurochemistry, statistics, and clinical research, COGA scientists found highly suggestive evidence for chromosomal “hot spots” (areas of potential linkage to alcohol dependence) on chromosomes 1 and 2, and more modest evidence on chromosomes 4 and 7. In addition, locations for the genes involved in the expression of evoked potential responses, a high-risk marker for alcoholism, were also identified. These findings bring us a step closer to finding the genes underlying the genetic vulnerability to this chronic disease.
Molecular spectroscopic studies examining the interactions between phenobarbital and human serum albumin in alcohol consumption
Published in The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 2018
Sheng-Feng Cui, Wei Li, Cheng-He Zhou
Alcohol dependence is one of the most highly prevalent chronic disorders worldwide and is caused by the accumulation and deposition of complex interactions among environmental, genetic, and biological risk factors. This chronic disorder can lead to many serious health and social consequences, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, gout, drunk driving, violence, attempted suicide, and illicit drug use (1). Alcohol policies in many countries have been formulated to reduce the harmful use of alcohol and alcohol-attributable burdens on health and society. Meanwhile, in recent years, studies have focused on alcohol dependence in the field of medicine, which have become an extremely attractive area. Many valuable studies (2) on the development of alcohol dependence have suggested that the major inhibitory neurotransmitter receptors, including GABAA, in the human brain are involved in acute and chronic alcohol effects, including dependence, withdrawal, sedation, ethanol preference, and lack of motor coordination. Based on evidence from clinical studies (3), the most difficult part of alcohol dependence treatment is that alcohol withdrawal syndrome occurs frequently when alcohol consumption is suddenly stopped or reduced after a period of high regular dinking. The consequences resulting from alcohol withdrawal syndrome are potentially life-threatening and are usually characterized by tachycardia, agitation and tremor and, in severe cases, memory and attention lapses, loss of coordination, and seizures (4).
Treatment motivation and social support levels among individuals with substance use disorders, and influencing factors
Published in Journal of Substance Use, 2020
Derya Tanriverdi, Döndü Çuhadar, Hatice Durmaz, Veysel Kaplan, Sıdıka Özkan
One of the parameters that is thought to affect alcohol and substance use during a patient’s diagnosis and treatment process is treatment motivation.Treatment motivation is an important concept that makes the individual willing to change their behavior, affects the performance of the individual positively, and provides a driving force in making positive behavior a reality (Savaşan, 2010). Motivation is a very important component that is crucial to inducing a change in an individual’s behaviors. A significant factor, especially in terms of addiction, a lack of treatment motivation leads the patient to discontinue treatment, makes them unable to complete treatment, as well as increasing the likelihood of relapses after treatment (Diclemente, 1999). In terms of alcoholism, even though an individual may realize the damage caused by alcohol and wish to take a step back, they are never quite able to do this. The desire to stop using and treatment motivation are determining factors in the treatment of alcoholism (Cox, Pothod, & Hosier, 2007). In one study it was concluded that pre-treatment motivation is an important component for sustained alcoholism treatment (Cahill, Adinoff, Hosig, Muller, & Pulliam, 2003).
Resveratrol impairs acquisition, reinstatement and precipitates extinction of alcohol-induced place preference in mice
Published in Neurological Research, 2021
The current treatment approaches commonly used for chronic alcoholism include psychotherapy (e.g. counseling) and pharmacotherapy (i.e. disulfiram, naltrexone, and acamprosate) [21]. Acamprosate is the United States Food and Drug Administration approved drug for the treatment of alcohol addiction that is only effective in certain patients, unfortunately [25]. Acamprosate probably affects the NMDA receptor antagonist and acts as an agonist of GABA receptors [26,27]. However, the most common side effects were listed in patients receiving acamprosate involving headache, diarrhea, nausea, and flatulence [26]. Hence, there is a need to develop new pharmacological agents with low side effect profiles for the treatment of alcohol addiction. Taking into account the considerable side effect potentials of the current drugs, resveratrol could be considered as an adjunct agent for the treatment of alcohol addiction.
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