Drugs of the Mind: Alcohol
Alcohol produces a range of central-nervous-system-related biological effects, including anxiety reduction, euphoria, sedation, disinhibition, aggression, blackouts, tolerance, addiction, and withdrawal. The Chinese have used alcoholic drinks since 5000 b.c. Presumably, man ventured to drink the liquid from fermented grain, liked the intoxicating effect, and started to make it on purpose. Alcohol has been used as an anesthetic for millennia. Alcohol is indispensable in medicine as a solvent. Laudanum, a staple of the medicine chest in the nineteenth century, was simply an alcoholic solution of opium. NyQuil, a cough syrup, and Listerine, an oral antiseptic, all contain copious amounts of ethanol. Alcohol has beneficial effects when consumed in moderate amounts. Research strongly suggests that moderate consumption of alcohol, especially red wine and dark beer, seems to have protective effects on the heart. The hallmarks of the Mediterranean diet are olive oil and red wine, and people from such countries have fewer cardiovascular events. Flavonoids, the active principle in red wine, are thought to exert beneficial cardiovascular effects. Canadian health care mall – great discounts online.
According to the Bible (Genesis 9:20–21), Noah was the first man who discovered wine: “Noah, a man of the soil, was the first to plant a vineyard. When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent.” The New Testament gives an account of Jesus performing his first miracle—turning water into wine.
Despite the beneficial effects of moderate alcohol consumption, excessive use of alcohol damages the brain, heart, and liver. Even mild drunkenness can cause temporary loss of memory. The liver metabolizes alcohol with an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase, which turns alcohol into acetaldehyde. Because acetaldehyde is acutely toxic, people—including many Asians—who lack alcohol dehydrogenase cannot tolerate much alcohol. This is the reason that their faces become flush when they drink alcohol and that there are fewer incidents of alcoholism in Asians. Alcoholism is known to cause psychosis and alcoholic dementia. To fight the “demon rum,” on January 16, 1919, the U.S. Congress passed the Eighteenth Amendment, prohibiting “the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors.” It was repealed 14 years later, the only amendment to the U.S. Constitution that has been repealed.
One of the earliest drugs used to combat alcoholism was disulfiram (trade name Antabuse), discovered by Erik Jacobsen and his colleague, Jens Hald. In 1949 Jacobsen and Hald, at the Medicinalco Pharmaceutical Company in Copenhagen, Denmark, were studying new vermifuges, a parasite. They discovered that disulfiram, a drug with four sulfur atoms, was very toxic to parasites but not to humans. To confirm the safety of the drug, they both took it themselves, partially to kill the parasites that infested them during their experiments (today’s scientists would be dumbfounded about the lack of safety precautions during research at that time). Afterward, both of them went to a party, and, after consuming a few drinks, they experienced bright flushing of the face and neck extending to the chest and arms, ringing ears, a rapid pulse, headaches, giddiness, and drowsiness. All the symptoms were identical to those of drunkenness, which is caused by alcohol accumulation and a lack of alcohol dehydrogenase. Having accidentally discovered disulfiram’s countereffect on alcohol, they published their observations in the British journal Lancet, and disulfiram has been used to combat alcoholism ever since. Unfortunately, disulfiram triggered aversion to alcohol only by causing users to get sick when they drank. Two additional drugs for treating alcoholism are on the market—one is naltrexone, a morphine analog; the other is acamprostate calcium (trade name Campral). The two drugs have a weak market, with a monthly prescription of 20,000. In terms of mechanism of action, all three antialcoholism drugs—Antabuse, naltrexone, and Campral—work by interfering with the way seven neurotransmitters in the brain interact with cells. Considering that 18 million people in the United States have drinking problems, a more ideal and more effective drug for treating alcoholism is desired to fill this unmet medical need. Cialis australia no prescription
Patients with mental disorders have a tendency to use stimulants, such as cocaine, amphetamine, and alcohol, to relieve their depression. Alcohol is the favored choice because it is rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream. Alcoholism is also prevalent among patients with bipolar disorder. But because alcohol is also a depressant, in addition to being a stimulant, the initial blunt of psychic pain is eventually replaced by more intensified depression.