Is addiction really a disease?

[Jemmons]

15. There are also pre-addiction stages that relates more closely to the limbic structures

Last edited Fri Jul 29, 2016, 12:38 AM - Edit history (2)

There seem to be huge differences in how much endorphin that different people produce after drinking alcohol. You cant measure this in the brain of a live person because of ethical considerations. But as the brains of mammals are comparable in most ways you can get a good idea of what is goin on by looking at say rodents brains. This is from a variety of rat-brains being subjected to alcohol while thier endorphin levels are measured directly in the brain.

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"The consumption of a moderately high dose of alcohol by
persons who describe themselves as voluntary drinkers enhances
the release of ~-END and ACTH to the bloodstream.
In contrast, alcohol intake by nondrinkers is followed within
15 min by a decrease in the plasma concentrations of these
substances to below basal levels, with maximum decreases appearing
after 30 min. "


http://hera.ugr.es/doi/15024970.pdf


If this can be confirmed, it would explain some of the variance and why some are prone to alcohol addiction and why some are just not. But this kind of sensitivity might be an unintended consequence of a trait that has great benefits in another context. It could be correlated with better pain management and/or stress management. And again not a sign of disease. Just something that can go wrong when you introduce alcohol into the natural environment.