Where can I find fourms about harm reduction, of alcohol
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Join Date: Apr 2012
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Originally Posted by caboblanco 
Gaba receptors have been permanently altered? In who? Everybody who experiences withdrawals will have this? My liver enzymes were back to normal very quickly so I don't know where that theory comes from. I know its accepted knowledge that alcoholics don't have the same physical response to alcohol but i haven't seen any real evidence for that with the exception of people with liver damage.
Alcohol effects on GABA receptors appear to be of two forms: short and long. Short term effects include potentiation of GABA (especially GABAA) receptor activity. However, this effect on GABA receptors does not appear to be universal throughout the brain. Some have proposed that GABA receptors that are potentiated by alcohol are special forms that include the presence of a special subunit or a subunit that has been phosphorylated.
Long term alcohol exposure may alter the composition of the GABA receptor subunits thus altering the function of this receptor."
https://pantherfile.uwm.edu/rswain/w...05/slect7.html
Effects of Alcohol on GABA production and function
The Scripps Research Institute - News and Views
From "Under the Influence"
Page 22
1.
The body, in the meantime, is doing its best to eliminate alcohol. Small amounts are eliminated in the urine, sweat, and breath, but the primary site of alcohol elimination is the liver, which is located behind the ribs on the right side of the body. This vital organ is responsible for numerous life-sustaining processes, including the control and elimination of drugs and chemicals which are toxic to the body's cells and the conversion of various nutritional substances into materials which can be used in the life processes of cells -- processes such as eliminating wastes, making repairs, and creating new cells.
The process of elimination begins as soon as alcohol enters the liver. An enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) attacks the alcohol molecule, quickly removing two hydrogen atoms to create a new substance called acetaldehyde. (NOTE: This is the liver enzyme I was referring to not the enzymes produced when liver damage is present.) Since acetaldehyde is a highly toxic agent which can produce nausea, rapid heart beat, dizziness, headache, and mental confusion if present in the body in large quantities, the liver quickly initiates the second step in the elimination process.
It employs another enzyme with a similar name, aldehyde dehydrogenase, to transform acetaldehyde into acetate. Acetate is then converted to carbon dioxide and water and eventually eliminated from the body. During these two steps in alcohol oxidation, a great deal of energy is released. In fact, with ordinary rates of alcohol metabolism, almost the entire energy needs of the liver can be satisfied. Most of the acetate is passed into the blood stream and oxidized to carbon dioxide and water in other organs. The energy produced in these reactions contribute to the energy needs of the entire body. In the alcoholic, up to two-thirds of the body's total energy needs may be satisfied by substituting alcohol for other foods. This explains why alcoholics often neglect eating for several weeks at a time.
The conversion of alcohol into acetaldehyde and acetate is an efficient process in most drinkers. The liver works at maximum efficiency, converting alcohol at the rate of approximately one-half ounce per hour, until all the alcohol in the body is broken down and its energy released to the cells. The liver is then able to return to its other duties.
If alcohol is present in the body in large amounts for long periods of time, however, the liver must work constantly to break it down and flush it out. The liver's preoccupation with alcohol results in the neglect of its other duties and, as a result, toxins accumulate and nutritional functions are disrupted. The health and vitality of the body's cells, tissues, and organs begins to suffer.
{Page 35 & Others}
(I'm going to grab a few things here and there starting on page 35)
Acetaldehyde, the intermediate byproduct of alcohol metabolism, appears to be one of the major villians in the onset of alcoholic drinking. The trouble probably begins in the liver ...
... found that the same amount of alcohol produced very different blood acetaldehyde levels in alcoholics and nonalcoholics. Much higher levels were reached in alcoholics. Lieber theorized that this unusual buildup of acetaldehyde was caused in part by a malfunctioning of the liver's enzymes.
... took this acetaldehyde difference in alcoholics one step further. His studies confirmed that, in alcoholics, the breakdown of acetaldehyde into acetate -- the second step in alcohol metabolism -- is performed at about half the rate of "normal" i.e. nonalcoholic metabolism. It is this slowdown in metabolism which apparently causes acetaldehyde to accumulate.
... Heredity is clearly implicated in these studies ...
In summary, addiction to alcohol may, in part, be traced back to a liver enzyme malfunction which results in a buildup of acetaldehyde throughout the body. In the brain, these large amounts of acetaldehyde interact with the brain amines to create the isoquinolines. These mischievous substances may trigger the alcoholic's need to drink more and more alcohol to counter the painful effects of the progressive buildup of acetaldehyde.
... Accumulated evidence clearly indicates that alcoholism is hereditary ...
... The weight of evidence clearly links alcoholism to heredity ...
Goodwin's studies provide compelling evidence that alcoholics do not drink addictively because they are depressed, lonely, immature, or dissatisfied. They drink addictively because they have inherited a physical susceptibility to alcohol which results in addiction if they drink.
Furthermore, this evidence has profound implications for treatment. While it may be possible to teach the problem drinker how to drink in a more responsible way, the alcoholic's drinking is controlled by physiological factors which cannot be altered through psychological methods such as counseling, threats, punishment, or reward.
In other words, the alcoholic is powerless to control his reaction to alcohol.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Getting to where I want to be
Posts: 502
More....Kindling effect. Effect on GABA and GABA receptors starting on page 4 of PDF file.
http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publicatio...22-1/25-34.pdf
http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publicatio...22-1/25-34.pdf
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