Free The Anatomy of Addiction by MD Akikur Mohammad

of appreciation of the magnitude of cumulative problems and complications.
    The still developing frontal lobes of adolescents, in particular, may both compound these deficits in executive functioning and predispose youngsters to engage in high-risk behaviors, including alcohol or other drug use. The profound drive or craving to use substances or engage in apparently rewarding behaviors underscores the compulsive aspect of this disease. This is the connection with “powerlessness” over addiction and “unmanageability” of life, as is described in the first step of 12-step programs.
    The Effects of Alcohol on the Brain
    It’s at this point where we must stop thinking of drug and alcohol addiction as synonymous. In terms of its physiological effect on the body and its consequences to the health of the addict, alcohol is much more insidious and its damage more serious.
    Despite alcohol consumption being both socially acceptable and perfectly legal, it kills more people than any other drug in the United States. Alcohol is the third leading cause of death, because it attacks every vital organ system in the human body. Yet, the fact that it is legal—even celebrated and glamorized—makes it far more acceptable than, say, crack in modern society. Keep in mind that at the advent of the twentieth century both cocaine and heroin were sold as over-the-counter medications, and wealthy white women were more likely to be addicted to drugs, including morphine, than any other group in the country. (Celebrated early twentieth-century American playwright Eugene O’Neill made repeated references to his mother’s morphine addiction in plays such as
Long Day’s Journey into Night
.)
    The physical effects of alcohol addiction are far more widespread than addiction to drugs. Alcohol directly or indirectly causes stomach cancer, rectum cancer, colon cancer, throat cancer, liver cancer, larynx cancer, and esophageal cancer. Alcohol doesn’t cause lung cancer, but as many alcoholics also smoke, you might take that into consideration as well.
    Scientists used to think of alcohol as a membrane disruptor with a generalized effect all over the brain, as the small molecule can freely diffuse across the blood–brain barrier. We now know that there are particular cells in the brain that alcoholtargets by binding certain hydrophobic pockets on their surface receptors.
    Unlike opioids (heroin, opium, morphine, oxycodone, and Vicodin), which tend to affect only one kind of cellular receptor, alcohol has been found to affect more than 100 unique receptors in the brain. It activates the entire neurotransmitter reward system.
    The neurochemical effects of alcohol cause a range of short-term effects—from a mild buzz to slow reaction times, which make drunk driving so dangerous. In the long term, these effects are also the basis for two of the defining characteristics of alcoholism:
tolerance
and
dependence
.
    Tolerance to alcohol is one aspect of alcoholism that leads to overdrinking. Tolerance can be acute, in one bout of drinking, or long-term, requiring an ever-larger dose to get the same effect over time.
    The effect of acute tolerance is a common experience for anyone who has had more than a few drinks. Initially, the first drink has a relaxing effect, but as a person continues drinking, it takes more and more alcohol to produce the same effect. Some people have more acute tolerance than others due to genetic factors. These are the people who can drink everyone else under the table, and they also may be at increased risk of developing dependence on alcohol.
    Dependence on alcohol is linked to the interaction of alcohol with the brain’s stress system, which alcohol activates. The major component of the brain’s stress system is corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) in the amygdala and related areas, which activates sympathetic and behavioral responses to stress. In a normal stressresponse, CRF recruits