I believe it's a disease b/c alcohol clearly does something for my aexh that it does not do for me. It makes me feel a little good, but more than 2 drinks and I start to feel rapidly less good and have no desire to imbibe any further. And I am 90% sure that I have that blasted alpha hydroxy whatnot enzyme deficiency. As little as 1/2 a glass of red wine makes my face look like a smiling tomato. But altered alcohol processing doesn't make me an alcoholic, so there must be something else.