Microsoft word - what is alcoholism 08.doc

Avominne Oy
Luutnantintie 1
FIN-00140 Helsinki
puh. +358 -(0)44- 256 3400
www.avominne.fi
[email protected]
IS ALCOHOLISM A DISEASE?

We have an estimated 300,000 working alcoholics in Finland, but how well do we understand
this disease or whether it is even a disease?
According to the American Medical Association, alcoholism is a primary, chronic, and
incurable disease characterised by loss of self-control. The Finnish Medical Society
Duodecim defines alcoholism as a chronic and recurring brain disease.
WHAT IS A DISEASE?
A disease could in short be defined as an abnormal vital or mental function that is
harmful to a person or people close to him or her.
For example, are lactose intolerance or celiac disease actually diseases? Their symptoms
and recovery are understood, and we know that if we expose the body to lactose (lactose
intolerance) or, for example, wheat flour (celiac disease), symptoms will appear and the
disease ‘wakes up’. Not everyone suffers from these two diseases, and they can thus
consume products that cause symptoms in other people.
Upon general examination of any disease, we can identify symptoms characteristic of that
disease and recovery from it, which also follows a certain pattern. There are also diseases
that cannot be treated and diseases upon which medications have an effect. The symptoms
of alcoholism and recovery from this disease have been described for many years using the
Jellinek curve. When examining whether alcoholism is a disease or whether some people
have different opportunities to consume alcohol without becoming ill, we have to understand
what chemical dependence is.
According to modern knowledge, alcoholism, drug abuse, mixed use, and other substance-
related dependencies are classified as chronic brain diseases. For example, dependence can
be defined using the World Health Organization’s ICD-10 criteria for the dependence
syndrome, which is defined as follows:
Three or more of the following manifestations should have occurred together for at least one
month or, if persisting for periods of less than one month, should have occurred together
repeatedly over the past 12 months.
1. A strong desire or sense of compulsion to take the substance.
2. Difficulties in controlling substance-taking behaviour in terms of its onset,
termination, or levels of use.
3. A physiological withdrawal state when substance use has ceased or has been
reduced, as evidenced by:
a) the characteristic withdrawal syndrome for the substance
b) or use of the same (or closely related) substance with the intention of relieving or
avoiding withdrawal symptoms

4. Evidence of tolerance such that increased doses of the psychoactive substance are
required in order to achieve effects originally produced by lower doses (clear examples
of this are found in alcohol and opiate-dependent individuals who may take daily doses
sufficient to incapacitate or kill non-tolerant users)

5. Progressive neglect of alternative pleasures or interests because of psychoactive
substance use, increased amount of time necessary to obtain or take the substance or
to recover from its effects.
6. Persisting with substance use despite clear evidence of overtly harmful
consequences, such as harm to the liver through excessive drinking, depressive mood
states consequent to periods of heavy substance use, or drug-related impairment of
cognitive functioning; efforts should be made to determine that the user was actually,
or could be expected to be, aware of the nature and extent of the harm.
The criteria for the syndrome provide an identifiable picture of the disease. This can be
reflected on a person’s or their intimates’ behaviour or feelings, but it does not illustrate the
dependence-disease mechanism, where the disease resides and how it is treated, or how
it absolutely should not be treated.
When describing chemical dependence, we end up examining the neurobiological process, in
other words, what happens at the brain cell level when a person suffers from substance
dependence.
HEREDITY

Hereditary factors leading to alcoholism have been proven to exist with the progress of gene
research. The most recognized deviations causing alcoholism lie in the GABRA2 and ADH4
genes. So, what are these ‘alcoholism genes’, what is their purpose, and, above all, how do
people with gene deviations experience intoxicating substances in comparison to
people with so-called normal genes?
As a result of a mutation in the GABRA2 gene, alcohol has a stronger effect on the brain,
meaning that an emotional dependence develops quickly. Regardless of whether such a
person gets drunk for the first time at the age of 12 or 50, the obsession with this substance
begins to control life.
A deviation in the ADH4 gene results in a better than average tolerance for alcohol. This
makes it possible to consume increasingly large amounts of the substance ‘without losing
control’.
The hereditary nature of alcoholism has been studied for decades, but only recently we
beginning to see clear results. The studies that led to the identification of GABRA2 and ADH4
lasted more than 10 years and involved more than 12,000 subjects. Now we know that there
are many ‘alcoholism genes’ rather than just a few. The genes do not actually cause disease
or affect a person’s destiny but act as a kind of ‘prescription’ when building the central
nervous system. Genes are intended to provide codes for building tissue, and they should
react to evolutionary challenges in order to allow a person or plant to survive in the
environment in which it lives. The decoding or function of genes can change due to influence
from their immediate environment even if the structure of the DNA itself would not be altered.
Reference is made to epigenetics.
A person inherits many absolute genes (for example, five fingers/hand), but also the genetic
flexibility to react to the environment or hereditary factors. When we take a closer look at the
genes that cause alcoholism, we find that existing, inherited gene deviations alter the
neuron structures of our brain so that they are ready to accept the influences of
substances ‘as a natural element’. This means that we not only inherit the external features
of our parents and grandparents but also their internal structures (including the size and
activity of internal organs).
So, how can we define when a person is chemically dependent? Are certain people born to
be alcoholics or do they become alcoholics simply by drinking liquor? This could be answered
by saying that even the strongest genetic vulnerability always requires a substance to make it
reality. Such people do not differ from so-called normal people in any other way, except that
substance use triggers a disease, which sooner or later becomes chronic.
About 70% of people with a chronic substance dependence report experiencing a strong
sense of gratification upon first trying alcohol. Almost without exception, they have alcoholics
in their close family, and it has been proven that a predisposed nervous system lies behind
the gratifying reaction to substances. It’s not unusual for chronic alcoholics to have had a
secure, good childhood and solid position in our social hierarchy. The disease is very arbitrary
in terms of where it strikes. One of its symptoms, the disintegration of social position, is often
a consequence of substance use.
The hereditary nature of alcoholism is stronger than that of schizophrenia or diabetes,
but many authorities groundlessly classify the disease as ‘spinelessness’ or a mental health
problem. Upon starting to use substances, roughly one in ten Finns experience this disease
involuntarily, and another 10% are at risk. The other 80% have ‘difficulty’ in achieving a
nervous state in which drinking becomes compulsive. In such cases, the vulnerability and
nervous system’s ability to accept substances do not exceed the chronic limit, which is also
referred to as ‘the invisible line’. People that cross that line can never return to so-called
social, controlled drinking. Drinking becomes alcoholic, a state that is characterised by
denial and secrecy. The ability to control the amount, time, or place of substance use
is impaired or even completely non-existent. Alcoholism always results in a certain type of
behaviour, meaning that certain people and the disease can be diagnosed on the basis of
behavioural symptoms. A person that has attained a state of sobriety can only be
distinguished from other people in terms of their life experience.

Avominne Oy
www.avominne.fi
NERVOUS SYSTEM DEPENDENCE

Neurobiological dependence exists when the nervous system has been exposed to a
substance for so long that changes occurring at the neuron level are chronic and permanent.
This type of nervous system can be inherited, but it can also result from drinking alcohol, often
aided by hereditary factors. The brain contains about 100 billion neurons, with one of their
tasks being to transport neurotransmitters such as dopamine (reward and gratification), GABA
(calmness), serotonin (mood), and glutamate (activation). One of the metabolic functions of
neurons is to ignite and extinguish genes, which subsequently provide codes for building our
nervous system. Our brains enter a state of crisis when we drink alcohol, because it disturbs
normal neurotransmitter activity. There’s no need to look farther than the neuron level for
environmental factors leading to alcoholism, because the ‘immediate environment’ of the
neuron is alcohol. Even people with a weaker inherited vulnerability exceed the chronic limit
when the normal metabolism of the neurons is repetitively blocked by alcohol, placing the
nervous system in an evolutionary ‘live or die’ situation. In such cases, the genes are
programmed to react in order to adapt and maintain life. Thus, continuous cell-level stress
may give cause to genetic/epigenetic alterations, after which the nervous system becomes
dependent upon the substance. This is when alcoholism becomes chronic, meaning that a
drinking person no longer drinks to achieve gratification but to attain a normal (nervous
system) state. This kind of alcoholic drinking causes depression and anxiety in that person
and in the people close to him/her. Every time a dependent person exposes him/ herself to the
smallest amount of the substance, the nervous system is activated and begins to demand
more. Dipsomania is a typical example: for example, a person can (must) refrain from using
alcohol for six months, but if he/she has a single drink, all sense of control is lost.
The brain is able to and must continuously adapt in adulthood as well. The genes of people
with even the slightest degree of genetic vulnerability to alcoholism are far more susceptible to
change for the worse than those without such vulnerability. As early as the 1960s, rat
populations, identified as AA-rats and ANA-rats, were develo

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