OT – Alcoholism and Addiction

[outtamojo]

[quote=Rustico][quote=outtamojo]

Here is some info on the genetics of NON-alcoholics. There is a drug available that makes you feel terrible when you drink, which, on the flip side of this topic, is how I feel when I drink. Yeah, that’s why some don’t really join the party : (, all it takes is a few sips.
http://www.indiana.edu/~rcapub/v17n3/p18.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acetaldehyde_dehydrogenase

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disulfiram%5B/quote%5D

I don’t understand what you are saying, Mojo.

You just don’t like the effects of drinking so you can’t really be at risk for destructive drinking? … Or you are an alcoholic, and a pill that makes people who enjoy drinking ,but are not problem drinkers sick, proves that there is a genetic link to “alcoholism”?

The study the first link seems to have serious cause and effect logic problems. A “stay sober” pill proves nothing, even if it works, because it works on everyone.

Antabuse has been around for a long time. It has the ingredient mentioned in your study.

Now we have this,Naltrexone, for treatment of Anorexia and Bulimia.I won’t say these things are not useful tool for some problems(though I doubt it). Does the advent and institutionalizing of a pill prove the genetic predisposition to bulimia and anorexia? It proves to me that someone is making money, or trying to, off a pill for everything.

Problem drinking, Bulimia, Anorexia are “mistakes” not diseases. People make and often make them all the way to the grave.People laugh at this “mistake” idea, I know, because asking onself why they can’t quit making the mistake is something they won’t or can’t do. If the excessive drinker can’t admit it is a mistake while young,like many of us have, it may be impossible to correct or may be nearly impossible to correct, other than by total abstinence.It is an established Pavlovian effect, so to speak, not a genetic one.[/quote]

Ok, I wil try to be more clear- some folks, like myself, have a mutant gene that does not allow us to break down alcohol in the normal manner. Before we get a buzz, we get ill, so we never get to the buzz stage and so alcohol is not enjoyable at all. A lot of us are conditioned to associate alcohol with fun, so while everyone else is buzzed up, we are ill and wondering what the big deal is until we learn why. This ill effect before we get buzzed results in a much lower rate of alcoholism than those with the normal gene. It is not a matter of “not liking” the effect unless you are someone that likes a punch in the face. Yes, many normal drinkers drink too much and throw up and get hangovers but those with the aldehyde dehydrogenase
mutation never even reach the stage that makes you want more.

[NotCranky]

Thanks, Mojo,
I hope that means normal people can go off the deep end with blogging now and then and not have a genetic problem.

[NotCranky]

Thanks, Mojo,
I hope that means normal people can go off the deep end with blogging now and then and not have a genetic problem.

[NotCranky]

Thanks, Mojo,
I hope that means normal people can go off the deep end with blogging now and then and not have a genetic problem.

[NotCranky]

Thanks, Mojo,
I hope that means normal people can go off the deep end with blogging now and then and not have a genetic problem.

[NotCranky]

Thanks, Mojo,
I hope that means normal people can go off the deep end with blogging now and then and not have a genetic problem.

[jpinpb]

Mojo – thanks for that link. That was a good explanation:

Alcohol is metabolized principally in the liver, where it is converted first to acetaldehyde by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase. Acetaldehyde is then converted to acetate by the enzyme aldehyde dehydrogenase. Acetaldehyde produces unpleasant physiological reactions even at low concentration, so the presence or absence of the gene mutation affecting aldehyde dehydrogenase in turn affects drinking behaviors. When acetaldehyde is not rapidly converted to acetate the results are dramatic: a rapid increase in blood flow to the skin of the face, neck, and chest, rapid heartbeat, headache, nausea, and extreme drowsiness occur. “As expected, this aversive reaction affects drinking behavior,” Li says, “and the mutant gene therefore serves as a protection against heavy drinking and alcoholism. “

I’m sure there are many factors involved in alcohol addiction and/or dependency besides genetics. But that sure doesn’t help matters.

[jpinpb]

Mojo – thanks for that link. That was a good explanation:

Alcohol is metabolized principally in the liver, where it is converted first to acetaldehyde by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase. Acetaldehyde is then converted to acetate by the enzyme aldehyde dehydrogenase. Acetaldehyde produces unpleasant physiological reactions even at low concentration, so the presence or absence of the gene mutation affecting aldehyde dehydrogenase in turn affects drinking behaviors. When acetaldehyde is not rapidly converted to acetate the results are dramatic: a rapid increase in blood flow to the skin of the face, neck, and chest, rapid heartbeat, headache, nausea, and extreme drowsiness occur. “As expected, this aversive reaction affects drinking behavior,” Li says, “and the mutant gene therefore serves as a protection against heavy drinking and alcoholism. “

I’m sure there are many factors involved in alcohol addiction and/or dependency besides genetics. But that sure doesn’t help matters.

[jpinpb]

Mojo – thanks for that link. That was a good explanation:

Alcohol is metabolized principally in the liver, where it is converted first to acetaldehyde by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase. Acetaldehyde is then converted to acetate by the enzyme aldehyde dehydrogenase. Acetaldehyde produces unpleasant physiological reactions even at low concentration, so the presence or absence of the gene mutation affecting aldehyde dehydrogenase in turn affects drinking behaviors. When acetaldehyde is not rapidly converted to acetate the results are dramatic: a rapid increase in blood flow to the skin of the face, neck, and chest, rapid heartbeat, headache, nausea, and extreme drowsiness occur. “As expected, this aversive reaction affects drinking behavior,” Li says, “and the mutant gene therefore serves as a protection against heavy drinking and alcoholism. “

I’m sure there are many factors involved in alcohol addiction and/or dependency besides genetics. But that sure doesn’t help matters.

[jpinpb]

Mojo – thanks for that link. That was a good explanation:

Alcohol is metabolized principally in the liver, where it is converted first to acetaldehyde by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase. Acetaldehyde is then converted to acetate by the enzyme aldehyde dehydrogenase. Acetaldehyde produces unpleasant physiological reactions even at low concentration, so the presence or absence of the gene mutation affecting aldehyde dehydrogenase in turn affects drinking behaviors. When acetaldehyde is not rapidly converted to acetate the results are dramatic: a rapid increase in blood flow to the skin of the face, neck, and chest, rapid heartbeat, headache, nausea, and extreme drowsiness occur. “As expected, this aversive reaction affects drinking behavior,” Li says, “and the mutant gene therefore serves as a protection against heavy drinking and alcoholism. “

I’m sure there are many factors involved in alcohol addiction and/or dependency besides genetics. But that sure doesn’t help matters.

[jpinpb]

Mojo – thanks for that link. That was a good explanation:

Alcohol is metabolized principally in the liver, where it is converted first to acetaldehyde by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase. Acetaldehyde is then converted to acetate by the enzyme aldehyde dehydrogenase. Acetaldehyde produces unpleasant physiological reactions even at low concentration, so the presence or absence of the gene mutation affecting aldehyde dehydrogenase in turn affects drinking behaviors. When acetaldehyde is not rapidly converted to acetate the results are dramatic: a rapid increase in blood flow to the skin of the face, neck, and chest, rapid heartbeat, headache, nausea, and extreme drowsiness occur. “As expected, this aversive reaction affects drinking behavior,” Li says, “and the mutant gene therefore serves as a protection against heavy drinking and alcoholism. “

I’m sure there are many factors involved in alcohol addiction and/or dependency besides genetics. But that sure doesn’t help matters.

[NotCranky]

I can’t stop you from taking that as something like a final word,JP. Too me it is not really there yet scientifically, and maybe never will be.

[NotCranky]

I can’t stop you from taking that as something like a final word,JP. Too me it is not really there yet scientifically, and maybe never will be.

[NotCranky]

I can’t stop you from taking that as something like a final word,JP. Too me it is not really there yet scientifically, and maybe never will be.

[NotCranky]

I can’t stop you from taking that as something like a final word,JP. Too me it is not really there yet scientifically, and maybe never will be.

[Author]

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