Monday, 12 January 2009

• Neurochemistry of Addiction

  Guest blog by SuSu
  
  

  
  

  
  To Greeks of the Pythagorean school, moderation was believed to create harmony.  There are still people who advocate moderation in all things.  Narcotics Anonymous, for one, does not.  Knowing that addicts can't moderate drug use, they say, "one is too many and a thousand never enough."
  
  David F. Horrobin explained why alcoholics cannot moderate drinking.  From Chapter 11 of Mary Greeley's book, Alcoholism as an Allergy:
  
  

  Prostaglandins (PGs) are powerful chemicals found in every cell...  They appear to be key controlling factors which regulate the way every organ works.  There are at least 20 of them, each with a specific function....

  
  

  PGs come in three families, all formed from relatively stable chemicals called essential fatty acids (EFAs).  EFAs are like vitamins, they cannot be made in the body and must be provided regularly in food.  Every body cell has an EFA store and when PGs are needed, EFAs are brought out of storage.... rapidly converted to PGs which briefly exert their effects and then are destroyed....  
  

  
  

  PGE1 is formed from an EFA known as dihomo gamma linolenic acid (DGLA)....  Limited amounts of DGLA, the EFA from which PGE1 is made, is found in most cells of the body and PGE1 is produced from it by two main steps:

  
  

  1)  The DGLA has to be removed from storage in a free form, and,
  2)  The free DGLA has to be converted into PGE1...."
  

  
  Following published research by Dr. Joe Abdulla of Guy's Hospital, London, Dr. Horrobin studied the effects of alcohol on platelets.  Independently, Dr. John Rotrosen of NYU's Dept. of Psychiatry and the Veteran's Administration Center, did almost the same experiments.  Both experimenters concluded that, "alcohol at concentrations relevant to human drinking has a potent effect on PGE1."
  
  

  Many of the effects of alcohol and almost all of the good ones are due to the increase of PGE1 formation and this can explain the behavioral effects of alcohol.  PGE1 has profound effects on behavior, and behavioral changes in animals can be blocked by preventing the alcohol action on PGE1....

  
  

  
  

  Alcohol may possibly lower the risk of infections...  PGE1 is able to stimulate weakened immune systems, and to help them resist infections.  ...Alcohol, like vitamin C, which acts much the same way, could have a protective effect.

  
  

  
  

  ...Surely, it would seem taking more of a good thing should be even better, but this is not true.  ... DGLA stores within cells are limited....  Eventually the stores become depleted and even if alcohol is still present, PGE1 levels will fall catastrophically, far below normal....

  
  

  
  

  There is very little DGLA in foods....  Therefore, we have to make DGLA in our bodies from another nutrient, cis-Linoleic Acid (cLA) which is particularly in vegetable oils.  Most of our PGE1 is ultimately formed from cLA in the diet.  The cLA must first be converted to a substance called Gamma Linoleic Acid (GLA) itself....

  
  

  
  

  Alcohol temporarily increases PGE1 formation by stimulating its production from DGLA, but in the process DGLA stores are depleted.  In a normal person, such stores could be rapidly made up from the cLA in the diet.  But the person who drinks too much alcohol cannot do this because the conversion of cLA to GLA is blocked so that paradoxically, chronic overconsumption of alcohol leads to a chronic deficiency of PGE1.  This lack of PGE1 may then lead to an increased risk of heart attacks and stroke, to high blood pressure, reduced ability to cope with infections, to brain and nerve deterioration and liver damage....

  
  

  A perfectly normal person readily able to cope with alcohol and not depressed before or after drinking, may become alcoholic.  His PGE1 levels in the absence of alcohol are normal, but gradually repeated drinking depletes his DGLA and simultaneously prevents its replenishment from cLA.  The resting level of PGE1 drops, a depression develops in the absence of alcohol and increasing amounts are required to get the PGE1 level up to normal.  Before he knows what he is doing, the social drinker is drifting into alcoholism.  He is drinking more and more of a substance which transiently and with increasing difficulty brings PGE1 up, but at the same time progressively destroys the body's ability to make PGE1.

  
  

  
  Dr. Horrobin's recommended treatment for alcoholism is twofold:  first reducing the cravings, and then avoiding or reversing the damage from the lack of PGE1.  He does not address a way to reduce cravings.  Many doctors do it with toxic drugs such as antidepressants.  We do it with individually targeted orthomolecular supplements of amino acids, vitamins and minerals.  We also follow Dr. Horrobin's recommendation for increasing PGE1:  evening primrose oil for GLA, with cofactors B6, B3, pyridoxine, niacin, zinc, magnesium, and vitamin C.
  
  With other drugs, other prostaglandins are involved.  However, in any addiction, even those to activities and processes as opposed to substances, there are similar biochemical cycles:  the addiction stimulates some pleasurable or beneficial effect while at the same time depleting the chemistry involved in producing the beneficial effect.  Here is how nutramed.com describes some common food addictions:
  
  

  The digestion of food proteins may produce substances having opiate or narcotic properties. There are also a large number of regulatory peptides feeding back to brain control centers to form the brain-gut axis. A stop signal to the brain when enough food is eaten would be important for appetite control and may be defective in compulsive eaters.

  
  

  
  

  Exorphins

  
  

  
  

  Pieces of milk and wheat proteins (peptides) can act like the body's own narcotics, the endorphins, and were described by Zioudro, Streaty and Klee as "exorphins" in 1979. Other food proteins, such as gluten, result in the production of substances having opiate- (narcotic) like activity. These substances have been termed "exorphins." Hydrolyzed wheat gluten, for example, was found to prolong intestinal transit time and this effect was reversed by concomitant administration of naloxone, a narcotic-blocking drug. Digests of milk proteins also are opioid peptides....

  
  

  
  

  Eugenio Paroli reviewed the peptide research, especially the link between food and schizophrenia. He suggested: "The discovery that opioid peptides are released by the digestion of certain food has followed a line of research that assumes pathogenic connections between schizophrenic psychosis and diet."

  
  
  

  ...Loukas and colleagues have derived the structure of cow's milk-derived exorphins: Opioid activities and structures of casein-derived exorphins. [Gluten and casein] carry information by finding and binding to brain receptors which ordinarily respond to endorphins. The message is go to sleep, feel bad, but go back for more.

  
  

  
  

  Chocolate

  
  

  
  

  Chocolate is an interesting psychoactive food. Chocolate and romance have been inseparable.... The botanical name, Cacao Theobroma, means "food of the Gods". One of the medically useful methylxanthine drugs, theobromine, is found in chocolate as well as coffee and tea. Theobromine is related to caffeine and is useful as a treatment of asthma.

  
  

  
  

  ...Chocolate enthusiasts often admit they are addicts and find it difficult to resist cravings and binge with unpleasant consequences. Chocolate confections are complex mixtures of milk, sugars, nuts, flavors, including cinnamon and other spices; they present drug and allergenic effects simultaneously. Post chocolate symptoms include anxiety, migraine headaches, abdominal pain, joint pain, mental agitation and depression. Chocolate addiction is more socially acceptable than it is healthy. Some chocolate eaters become quite ill and quite obese.

  
  

  
  

  ...addictive molecules in chocolate include caffeine and another speed-like drug, phenyethylamine (PEA). PEA is related to our own catecholamine neurotransmitters and their amino acid precursors, tyrosine and phenylalanine. PEA has arousal properties similar to catecholamines and may be one of the pleasure substances in the brain. PEA has been called the "love drug"....

  
  
  

  Coffee and Tea

  
  

  
  

  The popular idea that the bad effects of coffee are caused by one chemical, caffeine, is misleading. The 500 or so other chemicals in coffee include aromatic or phenolic chemicals and many are probably neurotoxic; other chemicals are allergenic. Coffee is also a crop with high pesticide residues. Coffee is definitely allergenic and makes some people obviously sick....

  
  

  
  

  Black Tea... contains caffeine and other members of the drug family, methylxanthines. Tea also contains tannin, a good tanning agent. The caffeine dose in a cup of coffee ranges from 100 to 160 mg. A cup of tea has 20-60 mg per cup and 12 ounces of regular Coca Cola has 45 mg of caffeine. The symptom complex produced by tea parallels coffee, although overall, tea is milder and better tolerated. Green teas are the mildest of the caffeine drinks and have beneficial phytochemicals which make their use more attractive.

  
  
  

  The subtle cognitive and memory deficits which appear after coffee intake should alarm employers who expect their employees to think, remember, or carry out skilled, coordinated acts.  It may be that coffee facilitates dull, routine, rote tasks where thinking, skill and initiative are unimportant.

  
  

  
  Knowing what I know of addiction from firsthand experience and the shared experiences of other addicts, as well as from my reading of biochemical research, I would never recommend even moderate consumption of addictive substances.  I have noticed that most if not all of the people who recommend moderate consumption have an axe to grind, usually the defense of their own addictions, which they are reluctant to relinquish.
  
  Many addicts go out of their way to avoid illicit drugs but will not consider what legal drugs are doing to their biochemistry and their health.  Many of them are obese and chemically impaired from their addictions to foods, so that their abstinence and/or recovery from drugs becomes difficult and painful, filled with temptations and cravings.
  
  Supplements including vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids and amino acids make it painless and easy to transcend any addiction, even those involving activities such as sex and gambling, when the supplements are used with an awareness of which neurochemicals need to be increased and which supplements do what.
  
  

  • The book, Molecules of Emotion by Candace B. Pert, is a good general introduction to the subject. Alcoholism: The Cause and The Cure by Genita Petralli describes The 101 Program, which treats alcoholism nutritionally.

  • Mary Greeley's book, Mood Cure and Diet Cure, and the book, End Your Addiction Now by Charles Gant and Greg Lewis, provide checklists that help one diagnose neurotransmitter imbalances. 

  • Dr. Gant's book, End Your Addiction Now, and the books, Mood Cure and Diet Cure by Julia Ross, also contain information on which supplements will balance specific deficiencies, empowering us to heal ourselves. Internists and most primary care physicians do not use nutritional programs to treat addiction.  An orthomolecular physican can do the diagnosis for you and recommend the necessary supplements, if you are not comfortable with self-healing.

  There are many healthful ways to stimulate the production of beneficial biochemicals such as PGE1 and the pleasure neurotransmitters such as dopamine.  These include physical activity, learning new information or skills, and creative expression.  Many people find all the "highs" they desire, simply by being of service to others.  Forget moderation.  For health, avoid addictive things completely and throw yourself wholeheartedly into your creative outlet, charitable work, or your pursuit of knowledge.
  
  This entry is condensed from a more detailed original.
  
  Do you have an addiction to something? If so, what is it?
  
  

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