This makes alcohol dependent

The addiction was decrypted by a study

13/01/2012

After consuming alcohol, the brain releases the happiness hormone endorphin. What has hitherto been presumed by science has now been decoded by a science team from the University of California at San Francisco. Over the course of a study, the consumption behavior of „moderate and strong drinkers“ compared and recorded by a special method. The researchers found different distributions of the happiness hormones in the test subjects.

Endorphin release after consumption
After consumption, endorphins are released by the brain, giving the drinker a pleasant and comfortable sensation. In addition, depending on the recording creates a sense of drunkenness. So far, the context of the science has been expressed only as a presumption to explain the addictive behavior of addicts. A team of scientists and medical scientists from the University of California, California, in San Francisco was able to substantiate the connection during a research project. „Consumers feel happy after drinking alcohol, and addictive patients have been shown to be more effective in influencing it, according to the study. Because addicts continuously deliver high doses and the alcohol flows through the bloodstream, the human brain already couples the enjoyment of happiness. This is how alcoholics quickly experience the feeling of „Be drunk“ and withdrawal symptoms diminish quickly.

A total of 25 subjects participated in the study. 13 of them said to the „strong drinkers“ to belong and to drink more than 19 units a week. 12 participants drank a maximum of 7 units. The second group served as a control group for the researchers. One unit corresponds to approximately 100 milliliters of wine (0.1 per thousand). In both groups of participants, the value of the secretion of the endorphin hormone in relation to body weight and sex was ever measured after drinking. As a result, it was found that after consuming the units, all subjects had their own feelings of happiness in the center for rewards of the brain. Thus, the proof could be provided that in all after the enjoyment of emotion excitement and mood could be influenced significantly positive. To perform the procedure, the researchers used a positron emission tomograph (PET). The application is often used for the diagnosis of cancer. In this case, the participant is administered a minimal radioactive serum intravenously. If the agent breaks down, specific chemical processes can be recorded in the body.

In the group of regular drinkers showed an increase in the proportion of endorphins in the body and in addition a sense of intoxication. „Thus, the dulling effect of alcohol is increasingly positively experienced“ explained the author of the evaluation, Jennifer Mitchel. So could be explained, „how an addiction is triggered in those affected.“

Foundation laid for researching better funds for withdrawal
First and foremost, the research group wanted to better understand the development of alcohol dependence in order to develop more efficient therapies in the future. Medicines that are currently used in the treatment showed in the daily routine of some severe undesirable side effects that reduced the success of therapy, as study director Howard Field explained. To detoxify the patients in hospitals drugs with the drug „naltrexone“ administered. „Many patients discontinue the remedy because of its side effects“ says Field. In addition, the drug would block several receptors in the organism, because it was not clear which receptor is responsible for the addiction. But now it is clear that the „µ-receptor“ responsible for intoxication states, further research could be carried out on adequate resources. Is possible, „that reduces the side effects“, because only this receptor is hindered in its activity. A foundation for more efficient means could be laid by means of the study. (Sb)

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Picture: Gerd Altmann