Nearly one-third of Americans have had problems with alcohol abuse and dependence in their lifetimes.

Alcohol can be made by four different methods:

* Fermentation of fruit or grain mixtures
* Distillation of fermented fruit or grain mixtures (Spirits such as whiskey, rum, vodka and gin are distilled.)
* Chemical modification of fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas or coal (industrial alcohol)
* Chemical combination of hydrogen with carbon monoxide (methanol or wood alcohol)

Natural Alcohol treatment
Kudzu may be helpful in reducing alcohol abuse or alcohol addiction.
Lithium orotate for alcohol cessation.
SAM-e may help certain individuals who drink alcohol due to depression
Phenibut

SAM-e for alcohol cessation?
We received this email in June 2008
Q. I have been taking SAM-e pills for approximately three weeks and have had no urges to gamble or drink alcohol. I am a recovering compulsive gambler and alcoholic and have had recent bouts with depression. My counselor thought that giving Sam-e pills a try would help, as she found it to help other gamblers and alcoholics such as myself. It is a blessing for me, as I can focus more clearly on rational thinking day to day instead of the delusional thoughts that compulsive gambling had led me to believe. I will not admit that I am cured but the relief I am experiencing has been amazing to say the least!
   My dosage of SAM-e was 400mg for the first week, but I have cut back to 200mg at the current time, on the suggestion of my counselor, when I told her I literally felt "drugged" during the course of daily activities. I was able to focus on tasks at hand without being sidetracked by thoughts of gambling. It was like my brain had been filled with a euphoric high, much like the times when I would gamble at the race track. I would become very fatigued after dinner around 6:30pm and sometimes fall asleep and not wake up until my wife came to bed. I also had a "freeze frame" type of vision a couple times while driving when looking left to right. Since cutting back on the dosage, I have not experienced either of these effects. I have also had a little more anxiety than normal (this was an everyday occurrence before starting the medication) as well as some increased irritability. These effects still continue. For the most part, as I have expressed, the desire to gamble or drink alcohol has been minimal. I am able to focus on important aspects in life again and the reality of the negative effects of gambling on my relationships and financial future is finally hitting home. Thank you for your time and interest, I hope I can be of help to others.

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Effects of alcohol
In low doses, drinking alcohol leads to a relaxing effect, lowered inhibition, impaired concentration, slow reflexes and reduced coordination. In medium doses, drinking alcohol produces slurred speech and drowsiness. When the blood alcohol level reaches very high, symptoms of alcohol excess include breathing difficulties, vomiting, and stupor.

Chronic effects of drinking Alcohol
Alcohol affects many organ systems of the body, but perhaps most notably affected are the central nervous system and the liver. Almost all ingested alcohol is metabolized in the liver and excessive alcohol use can lead to acute and chronic liver disease. Liver cirrhosis resulting from alcohol abuse is one of the ten leading causes of death in the United States. Long term alcohol addiction can cause a myriad of health problems. Nerves can be damaged leading to neuropathy.
     The number of middle-aged men with chronic use of alcohol and resulting death in England has more than doubled since 1991. Men aged between 35 and 54 have suffered the biggest rise in alcohol-related deaths. Deaths among women in the same age group also nearly doubled, fuelling concerns over binge-drinking and rising alcohol consumption.

Drinking Alcohol and Depression
For people who have been alcohol dependent for a long time, alcohol can have a toxic effect on their neurotransmitters, but that does not necessarily lead to depression or anxiety. Alcohol feeds depressive symptoms, increasing both their frequency and severity. Not all heavy or long time drinkers will become depressed. Depression can lead to alcohol abuse, while alcohol misuse can in some cases lead to depression which in this case alcohol rehab at an alcohol treatment center is an option if the depression is severe. Alcohol can briefly produce a pleasant and relaxed state of the mind. Alcohol problems and depression commonly occur together.

Alcohol and Obesity
People who drink small amounts of alcohol regularly are less likely to be obese than people who do not drink at all. Consuming no more than a drink or two a few times a week reduces the risk of being obese. Consuming four or more drinks per day, however, increases the risk of being obese by 50%.

Alcohol, Stroke, and Longevity
Alcohol use was assessed during in-person interviews and was categorized as none in the past year (reference group); moderate consumption (at least one alcohol drink per month in the past year but no more than two drinks daily); intermediate (more than two but less than five drinks daily), and heavy (at least five drinks daily). One hundred ninety subjects experienced a first stroke over a follow-up period of around 6 years, and 172 of the strokes were caused by obstructed blood supply. After accounting for established stroke risk factors, moderate drinkers had a 33 percent lower risk of stroke compared with those who consumed no alcohol in the past year.

Alcohol and lifespan
Moderate drinking may lengthen your life, while too much may shorten it. Drinking a moderate amount of alcohol -- up to three drinks per day in men and two drinks per day in women -- reduces the risk of death. The manner in which alcohol is consumed also appears to be important. Little amounts, preferably during meals, appears to be the right way (to drink alcohol). This is another feature of the Mediterranean diet, where alcohol, wine above all, is the ideal partner of a dinner or lunch. Archives of Internal Medicine, December 2006.

Alcohol and Cancer
Along with smoking and chronic infections, alcohol consumption is an important cause of several types of cancer. Excessive drinking raises the risk of cancer of the mouth, larynx, esophagus, liver, colon and breast. It may also be linked with cancer of the pancreas and lung. Alcohol is underestimated as a cause of cancer in many parts of the world. A sizeable proportion of cancer today is due to alcohol intake and this is increasing in many regions, particularly in east Asia and eastern Europe. The more alcohol consumed, the higher the risk of developing cancer.
     Chronic and excessive alcohol intake is associated with an increased risk of a variety of cancers (e.g., oral cavity, larynx, esophagus, liver, lung, colorectal, and breast). Retinoids (vitamin A and its derivatives) are known to exert profound effects on cellular growth, cellular differentiation, and apoptosis, thereby controlling carcinogenesis. Lower hepatic vitamin A levels have been well documented in alcoholics. Substantial research has been done, investigating the mechanisms by which excessive alcohol interferes with retinoid metabolism. More specifically, (1) alcohol acts as a competitive inhibitor of vitamin A oxidation to retinoic acid involving alcohol dehydrogenases and acetaldehyde dehydrogenases; (2) alcohol-induced cytochrome P450 enzymes (CYP), particularly CYP2E1, enhance catabolism of vitamin A and retinoic acid; and (3) alcohol alters retinoid homeostasis by increasing vitamin A mobilization from liver to extrahepatic tissues. As a consequence, long-term and excessive alcohol intake results in impaired status of retinoic acid, the most active derivative of vitamin A and a ligand for both retinoic acid receptors and retinoid X receptors.
     An international team of researchers reports that 3.6 percent of all cancer cases worldwide are related to alcohol drinking. A causal link has been established between alcohol drinking and cancers of the oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus, colon, rectum, liver, larynx, and breast.

Drinking Alcohol and Heart Disease
Light to moderate drinking reduces the risk of heart disease but the beneficial effects of alcohol seem to work differently in men and women. For men alcohol drinking daily seems to have the biggest positive effect on health while in women the amount of alcohol consumed may have more of an impact. The beneficial effects of moderate drinking in cutting heart disease risk are well documented but they warned that heavy alcohol consumption is linked to liver diseases, cancer and road accidents. Most of the research into alcohol and heart disease has been done on men. Little is known about the impact on women. Researchers studied the effects of alcohol on more than 50,000 men and women over more than five years. Men in the study who drank one day a week had a 7 percent reduced risk of heart disease compared to non-drinkers, but daily moderate drinkers were 41 percent less likely to suffer from heart disease. Women consumed an average of 5.5 alcoholic drinks a week, about half of what the men drank. But in women the percentages of reduced risk were similar, regardless of whether they drank one day or seven days a week.
     Older adults who have up to one drink a day may live longer and suffer fewer heart problems than teetotalers do. Modest alcohol intake appears to benefit the cardiovascular system.

Drinking Alcohol and gout
Drinking alcohol, even a small amount, may trigger recurrent painful bouts of gout. The gout-triggering effect of alcohol "occurs within a short period of time, perhaps less than 24 hours.

Alcohol and brain tissue
Excessive alcohol drinking can damage brain cells but the brain can repair some of the harm. However, alcoholics should get sober as quickly as possible because the longer they continue to drink alcohol heavily, the less likely their brains will be able to regenerate.

Smoking and Alcohol drinking
For alcoholics whose drinking brings on cognitive deficits, smoking seems to retard their cognitive recovery when they go on the wagon. Long-term chronic alcohol drinking of the amount that alcoholics do leads to abnormalities of brain structure, chemistry, and blood flow as well as cognition. Alcoholics may appear to be functioning normally, but cognitive tests will usually reveal abnormalities. So it stands to reason that diminished cognition should reverse itself when alcoholics stop drinking alcohol. But cognitive recovery can be retarded by cigarette smoking, at least during the first month of abstinence from alcohol. Smoking appears to interfere with metabolic brain recovery and cognitive improvement.

Smoking and Alcohol Clothing in teenagers
Middle-schoolers who wear alcohol-branded T-shirts and caps start to drink sooner than their peers. Similar studies from the 1990s linked cigarette-branded merchandise to a greater risk of adolescent smoking.
     Underage alcohol drinking is worth more than 20 billion dollars a year to the alcohol industry. Abusive alcohol drinking by both underage people and adults may account for nearly half of all money spent on alcohol each year.
     People who begin to drink alcohol before the age of 14 years are not only more likely to become alcoholics than those who stay away from alcohol until they're 21; they also develop dependence on alcohol faster, and face a longer struggle with alcohol throughout their lives. The findings underscore the dangers of early alcohol use. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, July 2006. However, the study did not evaluate alcohol drinking in countries, such as France, where occasional wine drinking with dinner by teenagers is more tolerated by parents.

Alcohol Poisoning
This is a condition in which a toxic amount of alcohol (ethanol, ethyl alcohol) has been drunk, usually in a short period of time. The toxicity is related to the blood level of the alcohol. The individual with alcohol poisoning may become extremely disoriented, unresponsive or unconscious, with shallow breathing. Because alcohol poisoning can be fatal, emergency treatment is urgently needed. There are many cases when alcohol and drug combination occurs making the diagnosis and treatment more difficult.

Alcohol withdrawal
Alcohol withdrawal is a set of symptoms that occur with the elimination of alcohol when a person is psychologically and/or physiologically addicted to it. A majority of people who have been drinking alcohol and decide to stop (often for health-related reasons) are able to do so without much trouble. Alcohol withdrawal typically becomes difficult only when problem drinkers—alcoholics—attempt to quit. Almost inevitably, alcoholics need help in achieving this goal. Sometimes, this help requires medical intervention in detoxification centers.

Alcohol and Hormones
Drinking alcohol can influence hormone levels. Alcohol can alter blood sugar levels and exacerbate or cause diabetes; interfere with reproductive functions; and interfere with calcium metabolism and bone structure, increasing the risk of osteoporosis. On the other hand, hormones also may affect alcohol consumption by influencing alcohol-seeking behavior.

Alcohol and Women
Although genetic and environmental factors are key in the risk of developing alcoholism, the roots of problem drinking seem to be different for women and men. For both sexes, problems with aggressive behavior in childhood -- including conduct disorder and oppositional defiant disorder -- signal a heightened risk of alcoholism. However, for women, childhood stress in general appears to contribute to alcoholism risk, and women with a nervous, anxious personality are more likely to have an alcohol problem than those with a more balanced temperament.

Alcohol Drugs - Alcoholism Treatment
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a drug, Vivitrol, an injectable form of naltrexone administered monthly to help control cravings for alcohol. Vivitrol is made by lkermes Inc. and Cephalon Inc. The once-a-month treatment provides an alternative to existing oral medications that must be taken daily, freeing patients battling alcoholism from having to make a decision each day to take medicine. The pill versions are sold generically and under the brand name ReVia by Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. Alkermes and Cephalon say Vivitrol is available in the form of a single dose, 380-milligram intramuscular injection.

Alcohol Cessation
Acamprosate (Campral delayed-release tablet), a synthetic compound with a similar structure to that of the neurotransmitter GABA and the neuromodulator taurine, facilitates the maintenance of abstinence in detoxified alcohol -dependent patients.

Red Bull, Energy Drinks, and Alcohol intake
People who mix energy drinks with alcohol may feel more sober than they truly are. In experiments with young male volunteers, researchers found that the men were no less impaired when they drank a mix of alcohol and the energy drink Red Bull than when they drank a standard mixed drink. Drinkers did, however, seem to think they were less drunk -- reporting less fatigue, fewer headache symptoms and better coordination. There's a popular, though unproven, belief that mixing energy drinks with alcohol can counter some of the effects of drinking. The danger lies in these alcohol and energy fluid drinkers thinking that they can function well and drive but then realize too late they are impaired, after a car crash or other serious incident.

Natural Remedy for Alcohol Addiction Research
An Extract of the Chinese Herbal Root Kudzu Reduces Alcohol Drinking by Heavy Drinkers in a Naturalistic Setting.
Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2005 May;29(5):756-762.
Of the available medications for treating alcohol -related problems, none are universally effective, and all have side effects that may limit their use. Extracts of kudzu containing a variety of isoflavones have been shown to reduce alcohol drinking in rats and hamsters. Our data suggest that an extract of kudzu plant may be a useful adjunct in reducing alcohol intake in a naturalistic setting.

Drinking Alcohol and the Work Place
There may be an alcohol problem brewing in American offices, shops and factories. An estimated 15 percent of the U.S. workforce consumes alcohol on the job, has a drink before going to work or otherwise is under the influence of alcohol. Young, single men are figured prominently among those who are affected by alcohol. Drinking on the job, being under the influence or working with a hangover was more prevalent among men than among women, more common among younger workers than older staff, and among unmarried workers than married workers. The highest levels of alcohol use and impairment are in management, sales, catering and construction.

Alcohol fact
The moderate consumption of alcohol does not destroy brain cells.
Mild to moderate alcohol consumption as red wine could be beneficial to health due to resveratrol and polyphenols.

Alcohol anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous describes itself as: "....a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hopes with each that they may solve their common problem and help other's to recover from alcoholism. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for AA; we are self-supporting through our own contributions. Alcoholics Anonymous is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution....Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety"

Avoid Excess Alcohol during Flight
Cramped conditions on aircraft can increase the odds of developing potentially fatal blood clots. Travelers should avoid taking sedatives or drinking too much alcohol during flights to reduce the risk of DVT.

Alcohol use in England
Alcohol-related illness in England has soared over the past 10 years. Hospital admissions for alcoholic liver disease more than doubled to 35,400 in 2004-5 from 14,400 in 1995-6, according to a report from the National Health Service. Admissions for alcohol poisoning rose to 21,700 cases from 13,600 over the same period. The Department of Health said it was launching a joint campaign with the Home Office later this year to promote sensible drinking among young people.

Alcohol Questions
Q. Is it okay to take supplements such as ashwagandha herb, acetylcarnitine brain booster, lipoic acid, kava herb, vinpocetine herbal extract, and coQ10 the same day as a drink or two of alcohol from wine or beer?
     A. I don't foresee any problems as long as the dosage of these supplements are kept low. The ones Ii would be cautious about is vinpocetine since it can cause lightheadedness and kava which can cause sedation.

Q. I take 5-htp in the evening sometimes for sleep. Is one wine alcohol drink okay?
     A. A small glass is wine is fine, but avoid drinking a lot of alcohol while taking 5-htp.