Ok, lets keep this on topic to the issue of dis-agreeance, which is whether alcoholism is a behavior or an addiction to an element within alcohol itself.
US Government Pubmed - Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse
Link Removed
There is no known cause of alcohol abuse or alcoholism. The reason why some people drink in a responsible manner and never lose control of their lives while others are unable to control their drinking is not clear.
Some people are able to gain control over their alcohol abuse before it progresses to dependence, while others are not. No one knows which heavy drinkers will be able to regain control and which will not, but the amount of alcohol one drinks can influence the likelihood of becoming dependent.
Take note of the US Governments public medical information on alcoholism... it is the person who becomes behaviorally addicted to the substance.
Wikipedia - Alcoholism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoholism
Long-term alcohol abuse produces physiological changes in the brain such as tolerance and physical dependence.
Again, psychological behavior produces a biological response. Not a chemical within the content that makes a person addicted. It is behavioral drinking, not, have a drink... OMG, I am now addicted nonsense.
Genetic and Environmental Influences on the Development of Alcoholism - 2006
Laboratory of Neurogenetics, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
A good read which consistently marks behavior as the primary predisposition, not any substance itself within alcohol. There are key substances within alcohol that create withdrawals (also known as hang-overs) for binge drinking. Talks about the environmental factors, also covers really what is still to date, quite unknown with genetics, though they have theories, still nothing concrete.
I included this to demonstrate how alcoholism in family due to parents influence children's behavior to alcohol.
See attached PDF
Alcoholism, CRF and Molecular Genetic Allostatis - 2008
Alcoholism, or Substance Dependence on alcohol, is a chronic relapsing disorder characterized by loss of control over intake (compulsive use) and the emergence of a negative emotional state during abstinence. Stress long has been considered a key element in the etiology of alcohol dependence, yet the exact mechanisms by which stress exacerbates and interacts with alcohol dependence have remained elusive.
See attached PDF
Glutamatergic substrates of drug addiction and alcoholism - 2008
Center for Drug and Alcohol Programs, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical
University of South Carolina
Drug addiction is defined by several diagnostic criteria set forth by the American Psychiatric Association. These criteria include a loss of control over drug intake, repeated unsuccessful attempts at quitting or reducing drug use, continued drug use despite negative consequences, a reduction in engagement in social, occupational and recreational activities in lieu of drugseeking or self-administration behavior, and the emergence of symptoms of tolerance or withdrawal.
See attached PDF
Alcoholism: A Systems Approach From Molecular Physiology to Addictive Behavior - 2009
Department of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany
Alcohol-related diseases, especially alcoholism, are the result of cumulative responses to alcohol exposure, the genetic make-up of an individual, and the environmental perturbations over time. This complex gene environment interaction, which has to be seen in a life-span perspective, leads to a large heterogeneity among alcohol-dependent patients, in terms of both the symptom dimensions and the severity of this disorder.
See attached PDF
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Honestly, I could keep doing this all day. This was purely the first results that popped up in either Google or scholar search for studies and journals, limiting to more current data than older data, just so that cannot be questioned.
As all of the above elude.... alcoholism is a psychological behavior. There are genetic theories, though it is behavioral. I posted the first one to show how environment is applicable to teens in relation to alcoholic parents.
Again, everything you say Dsantos is correct to my knowledge, with the exception of your interpretation of what alcoholism is. It is not due to a chemical component within the substance, even though alcohol is a drug, alcoholism is purely psychologically behavioral response, one that is typically achieved built over a duration before dependence is built within the body, not an instant response to any such specific substance within the content itself.
Here is the diagnosis for alcoholism, being a psychological behavioral diagnosis: [DLMURL]http://www.behavenet.com/capsules/disorders/subdep.htm[/DLMURL]
Future Directions
I have attached a nice read:
Translating the neuroscience of alcoholism into clinical treatments: From blocking the buzz to curing the blues - 2010
This question is particularly relevant in the area of alcohol addiction. Central stimulants and cocaine have well established, potent and direct effects on DA transmission, and it is therefore not unreasonable to hypothesize that interactions with DA systems may be critical for their addictive properties (Wise and Bozarth, 1985). Opioids also potently modulate DA transmission, although this action is indirect, and it is clear that activation of opioid receptors can be reinforcing both in DA-dependent and DAindependent ways (Amalric and Koob, 1985; Johnson and North, 1992; Spanagel et al., 1992). In contrast, alcohol modulates a wider range of neurochemical systems than perhaps any other addictive drug (Spanagel, 2009). Any of these systems could mediate neuroadaptations leading to an alcohol addicted state, and evidence for a unique role of DA transmission in alcohol addiction is not present.
Purely Informational...
They are finding with neuroscience that alcohol is affecting more areas of the brain than other worse drugs, however; they also state within this journal that results are still inconclusive and unsubstantiated in depth.
In other words, much more testing need take place with alcohol consumption and the affects on the brain, let alone what each area actually does, as a minority of brain function is actually know. So neuroscience is uncovering areas being used or affected, but science has no real idea of the scope any area actually produces.
That is getting off-topic though...
The evidence can continue on and on with this one though...
- MEDICATION TREATMENT OF DIFFERENT TYPES OFALCOHOLISM (attached)
- Mechanisms of Neurodegeneration and Regeneration in Alcoholism (attached)
I could keep at this all day, but I do have more pressing work to do. I hope this adequately covers authority information backing the statement, alcoholism is a psychological behavior, not an addiction to a property within the drug itself.
