Why do we humans drink alcohol? Are we conditioned to alcoholism? Are we not strong enough to say no? Might it be hereditary?

Studies prove that genes and even hormonal factors control the urges to drink whilst also genes, social and psychological factors and even hormones make some people feel more pleasure or need to drink alcohol.

For these reasons, quitting drinking becomes one of the most difficult New Year’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, wife’s birthday, husband’s birthday and so on, efforts on not to drink. With judicious and persistent therapies, many succeed, but for those who do not, science continues to seek answers.

A recent study by the National Institutes of Health of the United States found that the hormone ghrelin -produced by the stomach and regulating hunger- also influences the desire to consume alcohol. Researchers try to check in a poorly lit “laboratory bar” if it is useful to block the hormone through an experimental drug to counteract the need to drink.

Other research has shown that the brain of people who consume alcohol in excess is more receptive and more sensitive to neurotransmitters that trigger pleasure and reward effect.

According to a study published in Science Transnational Medicine, it is a fact that alcohol promotes the release of endorphins in two specific regions of the brain, directly linked to pleasure: the frontal cortex and the nucleus accumbens, which in turn promotes an uncontrollable desire to continuing drinking.

Oddly, people that practice sports & do plenty of exercise slightly tends to drink more ... alcohol-sugar ....

According to this research, as if that were not enough, it was found that in excessive drinkers the brain changes "into a form that makes them find alcohol increasingly pleasurable, which may be key to identifying how alcoholism develops as disease".

In science it is reaffirmed that these findings considered biological and structural factors are determinant in the exaggerated sensitivity to alcohol, which is the starting point for any addiction.

Sensitivity, according to the specialists, adds to the emotional problems that arise in life and how to deal with them.

Scientists warn that in addition to genetic factors and how the body eliminates the toxic, it is a fact that women have a slower processing of the liquor, which makes them easily more susceptible to intoxication.

However, there are also processes of biological rejection of alcohol in women, which would explain why most alcoholics are men.

Biologically, women drink for the event, not for life ....

From the toxicological point of view, the human body triggers two phenomena when consuming alcohol: tolerance and dependence.

Toxicologists explain that tolerance happens when alcohol enters the body, reaches the circulation, passes through the liver - which detoxifies - and becomes a toxic substance called aldehyde.

This component, according to the toxicologists, sends information to the nervous system, which varies greatly from one person to another.

When a shy person ingests liquor, by that effect it is uninhibited and will want to continue doing so. That will trigger tolerance; that is, the organism will increasingly ask for more concentration to feel the same effect and simultaneously produce what we know as dependency.

This dependence is of two types. A psychic or emotional, which must do with these substances in the brain (feel good). Another physical and organic, by which the body begins to require levels of acetaldehyde permanently to work.

Every time these levels go down, adrenaline is produced in large discharges. The effect is that the person cannot sleep, sweats, bristles, heart rate and blood pressure are altered with the risk of having a heart attack or fainting.

When a patient leaves his detox and abstains from drinking, there might be a trigger of a psychic delirium that requires pharmacological management. However, specialists explain that drug intervention depends on the severity of the addiction.

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved three drugs to treat excessive alcohol consumption: one that blocks the sense of well-being associated with alcohol; another that acts against anxiety of drinking, and an older one that causes nausea and swallowing aversion symptoms.

However, these drugs must be administered under strict supervision, because some can trigger adverse effects, such as high blood pressure, pimples on the face, difficulty breathing, choking sensation; and taking them in later ages can even be deadly.

The bad news - the consequences of consuming liquor:
-Stop breathing: they are the result of severe intoxication.
-General discomfort: it occurs because of hangover result of the dilatation of the arteries of the brain.
-Diseases of the liver: this organ can be affected, so order diagnostic tests to rule out cirrhosis.
-Memory disorders, dementia or Alzheimer’s type can be derived in the medium and long term: for this, they order resonances to determine if the cerebral cortex was atrophied.
-Damage of white matter of the brain with movement disorders and even paralysis: alcohol destroys the myelin of peripheral nerves, a substance that if affected produces alteration in sensitivity and mobility.
-Alcoholic dilated cardiomyopathy: the liquor increases the heart rate, the heart beats faster, becomes tired and dilates until it fails.

Do not be afraid to ask for support ...

The good news - therapies to control and/or combat this urge:
-It is all in your head; more than 90 percent of alcoholism cases are treated psychologically according to the phases of addiction, identified more than 20 years ago. First is the lack of recognition of the problem. The second is contemplation: after being involved in chaotic situations because of alcohol, the person feels that he may be in trouble, but he does not make decisions. The third is the phase of the action, in which some patients decide to seek help for alcoholics. Others go out on their own.
-The therapeutic work is to get the patient to fill the space that alcohol occupies. It can be achieved with the reorganization of life or achievement of goals. In some cases it is the idea of relying on a higher power, but applies more to extreme cases of conflicting people. There are people who do not feel well in these settings and 40 percent are looking for individual therapies.
-Once the person overcomes the dependency, it is advisable not to drink again, because the chances of a relapse are high, even if 10 years have passed.
-It must be determined if whether the patient has any underlying pathology, such as depression or anxiety and if he uses alcohol to block them.
-According to the latest report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), ethyl poisoning ends the lives of about 2,200 Americans a year, 6 a day.

Be alert and watch for warning signs: not only who consumes liquor every day has problems. Any drinker should be concerned about the impact this has on their brain, which is also reflected in their behavior. Therapists advice the person should consult a doctor when the liquor affects work, civil or family activities.

It should also do so who starts drinking and cannot stop, loses control or has “memory” gaps.

References:
https://www.fda.gov/
https://www.sciencedaily.com/
http://www.projectknow.com/
https://www.cdc.gov/
http://stm.sciencemag.org/
https://www.nih.gov/

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