New researches
suggest that if you like to drink but want to stop and don't seem to have to willpower to
do so; it may be because chemicals in your brain are telling you to
order another pint.
It's been long
thought that alcohol triggers the release of naturally occurring opioids
in the brain's reward centers, but research has documented how this process
works only in animals. A new study
in the journal Science Translational Medicine offers insights
into why alcohol can be so addictive in humans. Researchers used positron
emission tomography (PET) to look at the distribution of chemicals in the
brains of volunteers. Participants were 13 "heavy social drinkers"
and 12 healthy control subjects. Women considered "heavy social
drinkers" usually consume 10 to 16 drinks per week, and heavy-drinking
men typically have 14 to 20 drinks per week. Those in the control group
drink fewer than five drinks per week among women, and seven drinks per week
among men. It's important to note, however, that this study did not
involve alcoholics. Many of the "heavy drinkers" in this
study would have on average two drinks a day, which isn't necessarily
going to lead to dependency.
Currently, the main
drug available to help addicts stay off alcohol and drugs that is approved by
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is naltrexone. This drug binds
to the same receptors in the brain that opioids would bind to, so the opioids
don't have anywhere to go. But few doctors prescribe naltrexone, partly
because of the side effectss. Headaches, nausea, irritability
and achiness can result from this medication, which would drive people away
from it, especially if they're already in withdrawal and trying not to drink.
Still, making a drug that acts in the brain with fewer side effects is
tricky, even if you try to isolate
specific brain regions, he said. Brain regions that perform different
functions have similar biochemistry, so it's hard to affect some without also
touching upon others.
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VOCABULARY
1.
Willpower (n) - the ability to
control your mind and body in order to achieve something that you want to do:
Example: It took all his willpower to remain calm.
2.
Opioids (n) - a psychoactive chemical;
are among the world's oldest known drugs.
3.
Dependency(n) – addiction to drugs
or alcohol
4.
Binds (v) - to stick together in a
mass, or to make small pieces of something stick together:
5.
Nausea(n) - the feeling that you
have when you think you are going to vomit (=bring food up from your
stomach through your mouth
6.
Isolate
(v) - to separate one person, group,
or thing from other people or things:
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1.
Do you drink alcohol? How often?
2.
What are the effects of alcohol in the body?
3.
Why do people drink alcohol?
4.
Share your drinking alcohol experience.
5.
How should we treat alcohol dependency?
